Abstract #0469

Spernyak J, Mazurchuk R, Bhattacharya A, Cao S, Durrani F, Rustum Y

Spin echo BOLD fMR imaging using T2weighted spin echo based RARE phase encoding and carbogen breathing was used to serially scan head and neck squamous cell carcinoma xenografts growing in nude mice during chemotherapy for predicting chemotherapeutic response. Linear regression analysis between responders vs. non-responders indicated a significantly (Pslope = 0.088, PElevation = 0.001) different trend between the tumors that respond vs. those that did not. The earliest time point that was found to be predictive using this method was day 5 of chemotherapy when tumor regression was minimal (< 20%). BOLD fMR change reflects the changing intratumoral microenvironmental milieu, including neoangiogenic microvessel density, in response to chemotherapy.