Multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) for treatment response assessment of radiation therapy

Inversion-recovery ultrashort-echo-time (IR-UTE) MRI-based detection of radiation dose heterogeneity in gynecologic cancer patients treated with HDR brachytherapy

PURPOSE

To evaluate the relationship between delivered radiation (RT) and post-RT inversion-recovery ultrashort-echo-time (IR-UTE) MRI signal-intensity (SI) in gynecologic cancer patients treated with high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT).

METHODS

Seven patients underwent whole-pelvis RT (WPRT) followed by BT to the high-risk clinical target volume (HR-CTV). MR images were acquired at three time-points; pre-RT, post-WPRT/pre-BT, and 3-6 months post-BT. Diffuse-fibrosis (FDiffuse) was imaged with a non-contrast dual-echo IR (inversion time [TI] = 60 ms) UTE research application, with image-subtraction of the later echo, only retaining the ultrashort-echo SI. Dense-fibrosis (FDense) imaging utilized single-echo Late-Gadolinium-Enhanced IR-UTE, acquired ∼ 15 min post-Gadavist injection. Resulting FDiffuse and FDense SI were normalized to the corresponding gluteal-muscle SI. Images were deformably registered between time-points based on normal tissue anatomy. The remnant tumor at both time-points was segmented using multi-parametric MRI. Contours corresponding to the 50%, 100%, 150%, and 200% isodose lines (IDLs) of the prescription BT-dose were created. Mean FDiffuse and FDense SI within (i) each IDL contour and (ii) the remnant tumor were calculated. Post-BT FDiffuse and FDense SI were correlated with prescribed BT-dose. To determine the relationship between BT-dose and IR-UTE SI, the differences in the post-BT FDense across IDLs was determined using paired t-tests with Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS

FDense was higher in regions of higher dose for 6/7 patients, with mean ± SD values of 357 ± 103% and 331 ± 97% (p = .03) in the 100% and 50% IDL, respectively. FDense was higher in regions of higher dose in the responsive regions with mean ± SD values of 380 ± 122% and 356 ± 135% (p = .03) in the 150% and 50% IDL, respectively. Within the segmented remnant tumor, an increase in prescribed dose correlated with an increase in FDense post-BT (n = 5, r = .89, p = .04). Post-BT FDiffuse inversely correlated (n = 7, r = -.83, p = .02) with prescribed BT-dose within the 100% IDL.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that FDense SI 3-6 months post-BT is a sensitive measure of tissue response to heterogeneous BT radiation-dose. Future studies will validate whether FDiffuse and FDense are accurate biomarkers of fibrotic radiation response.

Biomarker-driven molecular imaging probes in radiotherapy

Background: Biomarker-driven molecular imaging has emerged as an integral part of cancer precision radiotherapy. The use of molecular imaging probes, including nanoprobes, have been explored in radiotherapy imaging to precisely and noninvasively monitor spatiotemporal distribution of biomarkers, potentially revealing tumor-killing mechanisms and therapy-induced adverse effects during radiation treatment. Methods: We summarized literature reports from preclinical studies and clinical trials, which cover two main parts: 1) Clinically-investigated and emerging imaging biomarkers associated with radiotherapy, and 2) instrumental roles, functions, and activatable mechanisms of molecular imaging probes in the radiotherapy workflow. In addition, reflection and future perspectives are proposed. Results: Numerous imaging biomarkers have been continuously explored in decades, while few of them have been successfully validated for their correlation with radiotherapeutic outcomes and/or radiation-induced toxicities. Meanwhile, activatable molecular imaging probes towards the emerging biomarkers have exhibited to be promising in animal or small-scale human studies for precision radiotherapy. Conclusion: Biomarker-driven molecular imaging probes are essential for precision radiotherapy. Despite very inspiring preliminary results, validation of imaging biomarkers and rational design strategies of probes await robust and extensive investigations. Especially, the correlation between imaging biomarkers and radiotherapeutic outcomes/toxicities should be established through multi-center collaboration involving a large cohort of patients.

Implementation and evaluation of a dynamic contrast-enhanced MR perfusion protocol for glioblastoma using a 0.35 T MRI-Linac system

PURPOSE

MRI-linear accelerator (MRI-Linac) systems allow for daily tracking of MRI changes during radiotherapy (RT). Since one common MRI-Linac operates at 0.35 T, there are efforts towards developing protocols at that field strength. In this study we demonstrate the implementation of a post-contrast 3DT1-weighted (3D-T1w) and dynamic contrast-enhancement (DCE) protocol to assess glioblastoma response to RT using a 0.35 T MRI-Linac.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

The protocol implemented was used to acquire 3D-T1w and DCE data from a flow phantom and two patients with glioblastoma (a responder and a non-responder) who underwent RT on a 0.35 T MRI-Linac. The detection of post-contrast-enhanced volumes was evaluated by comparing the 3DT1w images from the 0.35 T MRI-Linac to images obtained using a 3 T scanner. The DCE data were tested temporally and spatially using data from a flow phantom and patients. Ktrans maps were derived from DCE at three time points (a week before treatment-Pre RT, four weeks through treatment-Mid RT, and three weeks after treatment-Post RT) and were validated with patients' treatment outcomes.

RESULTS

The 3D-T1w contrast-enhancement volumes were visually and volumetrically similar between 0.35 T MRI-Linac and 3 T. DCE images showed temporal stability, and associated Ktrans maps were consistent with patient response to treatment. On average, Ktrans values showed a 54 % decrease and 8.6 % increase for a responder and non-responder respectively when Pre RT and Mid RT images were compared.

CONCLUSION

Our findings support the feasibility of obtaining post-contrast 3D-T1w and DCE data from patients with glioblastoma using a 0.35 T MRI-Linac system.

Delineation of recurrent glioblastoma by whole brain spectroscopic magnetic resonance imaging

BACKGROUND

Glioblastoma (GBM) cellularity correlates with whole brain spectroscopic MRI (sMRI) generated relative choline to N-Acetyl-Aspartate ratio (rChoNAA) mapping. In recurrent GBM (rGBM), tumor volume (TV) delineation is challenging and rChoNAA maps may assist with re-RT targeting.

METHODS

Fourteen rGBM patients underwent sMRI in a prospective study. Whole brain sMRI was performed to generate rChoNAA maps. TVs were delineated by the union of rChoNAA ratio over 2 (rChoNAA > 2) on sMRI and T1PC. rChoNAA > 2 volumes were compared with multiparametric MRI sequences including T1PC, T2/FLAIR, diffusion-restriction on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, and perfusion relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV).

RESULTS

rChoNAA > 2 (mean 27.6 cc, range 6.6-79.1 cc) was different from other imaging modalities (P ≤ 0.05). Mean T1PC volumes were 10.7 cc (range 1.2-31.4 cc). The mean non-overlapping volume of rChoNAA > 2 and T1PC was 29.2 cm³. rChoNAA > 2 was 287% larger (range 23% smaller-873% larger) than T1PC. T2/FLAIR volumes (mean 111.7 cc, range 19.0-232.7 cc) were much larger than other modalities. rCBV volumes (mean 6.2 cc, range 0.2-19.1 cc) and ADC volumes were tiny (mean 0.8 cc, range 0-3.7 cc). Eight in-field failures were observed. Three patients failed outside T1PC but within rChoNAA > 2. No grade 3 toxicities attributable to re-RT were observed. Median progression-free and overall survival for re-RT patients were 6.5 and 7.1 months, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment of rGBM may be optimized by sMRI, and failure patterns suggest benefit for dose-escalation within sMRI-delineated volumes. Dose-escalation and radiologic-pathologic studies are underway to confirm the utility of sMRI in rGBM.

Microstructural parameters from DW-MRI for tumour characterization and local recurrence prediction in particle therapy of skull-base chordoma

BACKGROUND

Quantitative imaging such as Diffusion-Weighted MRI (DW-MRI) can be exploited to non-invasively derive patient-specific tumor microstructure information for tumor characterization and local recurrence risk prediction in radiotherapy.

PURPOSE

To characterize tumor microstructure according to proliferative capacity and predict local recurrence through microstructural markers derived from pre-treatment conventional DW-MRI, in skull-base chordoma (SBC) patients treated with proton (PT) and carbon ion (CIRT) radiotherapy.

METHODS

Forty-eight patients affected by SBC, who underwent conventional DW-MRI before treatment and were enrolled for CIRT (n = 25) or PT (n = 23), were retrospectively selected. Clinically verified local recurrence information (LR) and histological information (Ki-67, proliferation index) were collected. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were calculated from pre-treatment DW-MRI and, from these, a set of microstructural parameters (cellular radius R, volume fraction vf, diffusion D) were derived by applying a fine-tuning procedure to a framework employing Monte Carlo simulations on synthetic cell substrates. In addition, apparent cellularity (ρ_app ) was estimated from vf and R for an easier clinical interpretation. Histogram-based metrics (mean, median, variance, entropy) from estimated parameters were considered to investigate differences (Mann-Whitney U-test, α = 0.05) in estimated tumor microstructure in SBCs characterized by low or high cell proliferation (Ki-67). Recurrence-free survival analyses were also performed to assess the ability of the microstructural parameters to stratify patients according to the risk of local recurrence (Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank test α = 0.05).

RESULTS

Refined microstructural markers revealed optimal capabilities in discriminating patients according to cell proliferation, achieving best results with mean values (p-values were 0.0383, 0.0284, 0.0284, 0.0468, and 0.0088 for ADC, R, vf, D, and ρ_app, respectively). Recurrence-free survival analyses showed significant differences between populations at high and low risk of local recurrence as stratified by entropy values of estimated microstructural parameters (p = 0.0110).

CONCLUSION

Patient-specific microstructural information was non-invasively derived providing potentially useful tools for SBC treatment personalization and optimization in particle therapy.