Lauren CJ Baker1, Jessica K.R. Boult1,
Yann Jamin1, Lesley D. McPhail1, Simon Walker-Samuel1,
Jake S. Burrell1, Margaret Ashcroft2, Franklyn A. Howe3,
John R. Griffiths4, James A. Raleigh5, Albert J. van
der Kogel6, Simon P. Robinson1
1The Institute of Cancer Research,
Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom; 2University College London,
London, United Kingdom; 3St. George's, University of London,
London, United Kingdom; 4Cambridge Cancer Institute, Cambridge,
United Kingdom; 5University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United
States; 6University of Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen,
Netherlands
The
transverse relaxation rate R2* (s-1) of GH3
prolactinomas was quantified whilst the host breathed air and subsequently
carbogen (95%O2/5%CO2), and the data compared with
quantitative immunohistochemical analysis of uptake of two hypoxia markers,
CCI-103F, administered whilst the host breathed air, and pimonidazole,
administered during subseqent carbogen breathing, within the same
tumour. A significant reduction in R2*
with carbogen breathing was associated with a significant reduction in
pimonidazole staining, providing further validation of carbogen-induced
δR2* as a non-invasive imaging biomarker of increased tumour
oxygenation.