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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