Imaging anti-angiogenic treatment response with DCE-VCT, DCE-MRI and DWI in an animal model of breast cancer bone metastasis

Bäuerle, Tobias; Bartling, Sönke; Berger, Martin; Schmitt-Gräff, Annette; Hilbig, Heidegard; Kauczor, Hans-Ulrich; Delorme, Stefan; Kiessling, Fabian

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2008.10.020

« Previous Next »European Journal of Radiology
Volume 73, Issue 2 , Pages 280-287, February 2010

Imaging anti-angiogenic treatment response with DCE-VCT, DCE-MRI and DWI in an animal model of breast cancer bone metastasis

Tobias Bäuerle
- Department of Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 6221 422553; fax: +49 6221 422572.
Sönke Bartling
- Department of Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Tel.: +49 6221 422686; fax: +49 6221 422572.
Martin Berger
- Unit of Chemotherapy and Toxicology, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Tel.: +49 6221 423310; fax: +49 6221 423313.
Annette Schmitt-Gräff
- Institute of Pathology, University of Freiburg, Postfach 214, 79002 Freiburg, Germany
- Tel.: +49 761 2036776; fax: +49 761 2036790.
Heidegard Hilbig
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 13, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Tel.: +49 341 9722053.
Hans-Ulrich Kauczor
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Radiologische Klinik, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Tel.: +49 6221 566410.
Stefan Delorme
- Department of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Tel.: +49 6221 2563; fax: +49 6221 422567.
Fabian Kiessling
- Department of Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Experimental Molecular Imaging, RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074 Aachen, Germany
- Tel.: +49 241 8080117; fax: +49 241 8082442.

Received 1 September 2008; received in revised form 22 October 2008; accepted 23 October 2008.

Abstract

As current classification systems for the assessment of treatment response in bone metastasis do not meet the needs of oncologists, new imaging biomarkers are desirable. Therefore, the diagnostic impact of dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-volumetric computed tomography (VCT) (descriptive analysis), DCE-MRI (two-compartment model) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) for monitoring anti-angiogenic therapy effects of the VEGF antibody bevacizumab in breast cancer bone metastases in rats was studied. Nude rats (n=8 animals treated with bevacizumab and n=9 untreated control rats) with site-specific osteolytic bone metastasis of the hind leg were imaged with a 1.5T clinical MRI-scanner in an animal coil as well as in a volumetric CT-scanner at days 30, 40, 50 and 60 after inoculation of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. From these data, osteolytic lesion size (OLS), peak enhancement (PE), area under the curve (AUC), amplitude (A), exchange rate constant (k_ep) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were determined in bone metastases. Prior to changes in OLS (p≤0.05 at days 50 and 60) there was already a significant decrease in PE, AUC and A (p≤0.05 at days 40–60) in treated animals compared to controls. However, for k_ep and ADC there were no significant differences between the groups at any time point (p>0.05 at days 40–60). In conclusion, anti-angiogenic treatment response in osteolytic breast cancer bone metastases can be assessed early with surrogate markers of vascularization, while DWI appears to be insensitive.