Zhuoli Zhang1, Weiguo Li1, Nichole R. Blatner2, Kristen Dennis2, Daniele Procissi1, Khashayarsha Khazaie3, 4, Andrew C. Larson1, 5
1Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; 2Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; 3R. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; 4Medicine, Northwestern University , Chicago , IL, United States; 5Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
The mouse model of hereditary intestinal cancer based on haploinsufficiency of the adenomatous polyposis coli gene (APCΔ468) has been widely validated for studying the pathophysiology and carcinogenesis of human disease in pre-clinical research settings. By providing a organ specific (colon) tumor it offers the opportunity to test new therapies and observe tumor progression and response in a realistic tissue microenvironment. In this study, we investigated the ability to use MR techniques to 1) rapidly and reliably detect colorectal tumors in the transgenic APCΔ468 mouse model and 2) identify tumor-specific and potentially therapeutically relevant imaging biomarkers.
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