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Treatment margins in radiotherapy for liver tumors visualized as T2*-hypointense areas on SPIO-enhanced MRI at 9.4 T

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Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To investigate whether a SPIO-labeling technique could enable MR visualization of the treatment margin after X-irradiation at a single dose of 30 Gy.

Materials and methods

Fifteen rats bearing N1-S1 hepatoma in either the left (group 1) or right (group 2) liver lobe were examined. Four hours after systemic SPIO administration, the left lobe was selectively irradiated at 30 Gy. Liver T2* maps were acquired 7 days later using a 9.4 T scanner. The livers were excised and examined histologically.

Results

The irradiated area showed T2*-weighted hypointensity with significantly shorter T2* values than those in the non-irradiated area (p < 0.001). Tumors in group 1 completely disappeared, whereas tumors in group 2 had grown outside the T2*-weighted hypointensity by up to ~ 2.3 times that at baseline. Group 1 showed significantly higher probability of tumor regression than group 2 (p = 0.048). Histologically, iron deposition was heavier in irradiated areas than in non-irradiated areas.

Discussion

Even at a single dose of 30 Gy, which is a slightly higher dose than can be used clinically in stereotactic body radiotherapy, MR visualization of the treatment margin was achieved, because tumors showed significant growth outside the T2*-hypointense areas. In contrast, tumors disappeared inside the T2*-hypointense areas.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Grant from the Japan Radiological Society KJ-20 (to Toshihiro Furuta) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI Grant number 16K10332 (to Masayuki Yamaguchi).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Functional Imaging, Exploratory Oncology Research & Clinical Trial Center, National Cancer Center, Kashiwanoha 6-5-1, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8577, Japan

    Toshihiro Furuta, Masayuki Yamaguchi & Hirofumi Fujii

  2. Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

    Toshihiro Furuta & Osamu Abe

  3. Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan

    Manabu Minami

Authors
  1. Toshihiro Furuta
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  2. Masayuki Yamaguchi
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  3. Manabu Minami
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  4. Osamu Abe
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  5. Hirofumi Fujii
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Contributions

Study conception and design: TF, MY, MM, OA, HF. Acquisition of data: TF, MY. Analysis and interpretation of data: TF, MY. Drafting of manuscript: TF, MY. Critical revision: TF, MY, MM, OA, HF.

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Correspondence to Toshihiro Furuta.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The experimental protocol in the present study was approved by Committee for Ethics of Animal Experimentation of National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan.

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Furuta, T., Yamaguchi, M., Minami, M. et al. Treatment margins in radiotherapy for liver tumors visualized as T2*-hypointense areas on SPIO-enhanced MRI at 9.4 T. Magn Reson Mater Phy 33, 701–712 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-020-00838-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-020-00838-4

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