We investigated effectiveness of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide enhanced susceptibility weighted imaging (USPIO-enhanced SWI) and mean vessel density imaging (Q) in monitoring antiangiogenic effects of Sorafenib on orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thirty-five HCC xenografts were established. USPIO-enhanced SWI and Q were performed on a 1.5 T MR scanner at baseline, 7, 14, and 21 days after Sorafenib treatment. Intratumoral susceptibility signal intensity (ITSS) and Q were serially measured and compared between the treated (n = 15) and control groups (n = 15). Both ITSS and Q were significantly lower in the treated group at each time point (P < 0.05). Measurements in the treated group showed that ITSS persisted at 7 days (P = 0.669) and increased at 14 and 21 days (P < 0.05), while Q significantly declined at 7 days (P = 0.028) and gradually increased at 14 and 21 days. In the treated group, significant correlation was found between Q and histologic microvessel density (MVD) (r = 0.753, P < 0.001), and ITSS correlated well with MVD (r = 0.742, P = 0.002) after excluding the data from baseline. This study demonstrated that USPIO-enhanced SWI and Q could provide novel biomarkers for evaluating antiangiogenic effects of Sorafenib on HCC.
[1]Fudan Univ, Shanghai Inst Med Imaging, Shanghai Med Coll, Dept Radiol,Zhongshan Hosp, Shanghai 200032, Peoples R China.
[2]Shanghai Univ Tradit Chinese Med, Shuguang Hosp, Dept Radiol, Shanghai 200021, Peoples R China.
[3]Fudan Univ, Inst Funct & Mol Med Imaging, Shanghai 200040, Peoples R China.
[4]Shanghai Univ Tradit Chinese Med, Shuguang Hosp, Dept Pathol, Shanghai 200021, Peoples R China.
[5]Siemens Shenzhen Magnet Resonance Ltd, Shenzhen 518057, Peoples R China.
[6]Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Med X Res Inst, Sch Biomed Engn, Shanghai 200030, Peoples R China.
(8.0+极速模式)