Abstract #1734

Mapping Collagen 1 Fiber Architecture to Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Human Breast Tumor Specimens

Samata Kakkad¹,², Alireza Akhbardeh¹, Jiangyang Zhang³, Meiyappan Solaiyappan¹, Dieter Leibfritz², Kristine Glunde⁴, Zaver M. Bhujwalla⁴

¹JHU ICMIC Program, Division of Cancer Imaging Research, The Johns Hopkins University SOM, Baltimore, MD, United States; ²Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany; ³Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University SOM, Baltimore, MD, United States; ⁴JHU ICMIC Program, Division of Cancer Imaging Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States

Collagen 1 fibers are a major component of the tumor extracellular matrix. Col1 fibers play an important role in macromolecular transport and cancer cell dissemination. Our goal was to determine the influence of Col1 fiber distribution on water diffusion in human breast cancer. We have combined high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging of human breast cancer biopsy followed by second harmonic generation microscopy to intrinsically detect Col1 fibers. Using Haralick texture analysis we classified Col1 fiber distribution feature and observed high water diffusion and diffusion anisotropy correlated with regions of high Col1 fibers. Noninvasive DTI may be used to access Col1 fiber architecture.