Special Issue "DCE-MRI in Preclinical Imaging"

Guest Editor
Dr. Veerle Kersemans
Department of Oncology, CRUK/MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, University of Oxford, Off Roosevelt Drive, Churchill Hospital, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
E-Mail: Veerle.Kersemans@oncology.ox.ac.uk
Phone: +44 186 585 7124
Fax: +44 186 585 7127

Dear Colleagues,

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a method of investigating microvascular structure and function by tracking the pharmacokinetics of injected low-molecular weight contrast agents as they pass through the tumour vasculature. It is sensitive to changes in tumour blood perfusion and vascular permeability and has been applied for cancer detection, characterisation, staging and therapy monitoring. The technique is promising and has been proposed as a method to improve the diagnostic specificity of MRI.

The accuracy of DCE-MRI relies on the ability to model the pharmacokinetics of an injected contrast agent, using the signal intensity changes on sequential magnetic resonance images. Depending on the application, DCE-MRI measurements have included semi-quantitative analysis of the time-intensity curves such as the maximal enhancement, time to peak enhancement, enhancement gradient and signal enhancement ratio, or quantitative pharmacokinetic modelling parameters such as K^trans.

This collection of reviews provides an overview of DCE-MRI in preclinical imaging, from image acquisition and data analysis methods to its applications and translation into clinic. Proposed topics covered in special issue:

• Image acquisition and quantification
• Arterial input function, a requisite for quantitative DCE-MRI analysis?
• Validation of DCE-MRI
• Applications for DCE-MRI: an overview
• DCE-MRI as an imaging biomarker for anti-vascular therapy
• DCE-MRI in radiation therapy applications
• Preclinical DCE-MRI and its translation into clinic

Dr Veerle Kersemans
Guest Editor

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• DCE-MRI
• quantification
• arterial input function
• applications
• imaging biomarker