Stefan Zwick1, Ralph Strecker2, Moritz Palmowski3, Peter Gall4, Valerij Kiselev4, Arne Hengerer2, Wolfhard Semmler1, Fabian Kiessling3
1Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; 2HealthCare Sector, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany; 3Department of Experimental Molecular Imaging, RWTH-Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; 4Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
To assess vascular remodelling in tumors during antiangiogenic therapy DCE-MRI and vessel size imaging were performed. Tumor bearing nude mice were treated with a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor and investigated before and after treatment. The decrease of A and increase of kep in treated compared to untreated tumors clearly showed therapy response. The mean vessel size measured by vessel size imaging significantly increased in treated as compared to untreated tumors. Results of both methods are in excellent agreement with histology. Thus, DCE-MRI and vessel size imaging were able to assess vascular remodelling during antiangiogenic tumor therapy.
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