Blood Flow MRI for Monitoring Brain Tumors

Blood Flow MRI for Monitoring of Glioma Angiogenesis

The investigators are studying the use of an advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for measuring blood flow into brain tumors. This technique does not use radioactive tracers, and it can provide high quality images that can be obtained in a standard MRI scanner.

Our goals are:

1. To compare the blood flow measured with this technique with measures of tumor blood vessel density in pieces of the tumor surgically removed as a normal part of clinical treatment. This will confirm a relationship between the imaging measurements and the microscopic characteristics of tumors.
2. To compare the blood flow in tumors before therapy with the concentration of choline, an indicator of cell proliferation. This choline concentration can be measured with another MRI technique. This information will demonstrate the relationship between cell proliferation and blood supply and will also determine whether the choline measurement adds additional information that is clinically necessary.
3. To determine the reproducibility of blood flow measurements in tumors. This is necessary to better understand the sensitivity of the technique to changes in flow caused by a treatment or changes in tumor vascularity.
4. To monitor changes in blood flow after initial treatment. Since sometimes tumors can reappear, the repeated measures will help determine how useful this new imaging technique is at detecting such recurring tumors.

Inclusion Criteria:

• diagnosed with or are suspected of having a glioma

Exclusion Criteria:

• contraindications to MRI which may include the following

  1. Pacemaker
  2. MRI incompatible metal implant
  3. Recently implanted vascular clip
  4. History of claustrophobia
  5. Metal fragment within the eye

Subjects who have received nonstandard therapy may be excluded if the therapy might alter tumor blood flow or other imaging characteristic.