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Abstract #4042

Correlating Tumor Viscosity with Hypoxia

Mrignayani Kotecha 1 , Shreyan Majumdar 1 , Eugene Barth 2 , Boris Epel 2 , and Howard Halpern 2

1 Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States, 2 Center for EPR Imaging in Vivo Physiology, Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

The purpose of this work is to establish a relationship between tumor viscosity and partial oxygen pressure (pO2), the two important physiologic parameters that can be channelized to provide targeted radiation therapy. Tumors have a highly heterogeneous environment frequented with areas of low oxygen concentration (hypoxic regions). These hypoxic areas are resistant to radiation and thus, require higher radiation dosage for the destruction of tumor cells. Current practice of ignoring oxygen distribution while applying homogeneous radiation treatment leads to excessive damage of the neighboring healthy tissues, and thereby reduced quality of patient life. Solid tumors have abnormal organization of blood vessels that results in heterogeneous perfusion and extravasation, and a hostile microenvironment with increased interstitial pressure (1). The higher cellularity, tissue disorganization, and increased extracellular space all result in lower apparent diffusion coefficients, equivalent to higher viscosities, for malignant tumors as compared to normal tissue (2). The knowledge of pO2, in conjunction with viscosity and tissue anisotropy, can predict tissue health and may eventually be used in combination with Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for targeted destruction of radiation-resistant areas, while sparing healthy tissues. In this study, we aim to correlate tumor viscosity acquired using diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) with pO2 obtained by electron paramagnetic resonance oxygen imaging (EPROI). This is first such study correlating these two physiologic parameters at the tissue microstructure level.

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