Abstract #1869

Verdijk P, Walczak P, Bulte J, Scheenen T, Veltien A, Lesterhuis W, Figdor C, de Vries I, Punt C, Heerschap A

Dendritic cell (DC) cancer vaccines are currently being administered as a novel form of cell therapy to boost the immune system in cancer patients. We have demonstrated that MR imaging of DCs labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) is feasible after intranodal injection in melanoma patients and allows evaluation of the delivery and tracking of the vaccine. In this study we assessed the maximal SPIO content that did not affect the function of DCs and the lowest density of DCs that could be detected by gradient echo MRI with this SPIO level on a 3T clinical MR system.