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Evaluations of Tumor Acidosis Within In Vivo Tumor Models Using Parametric Maps Generated with AcidoCEST MRI

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Molecular Imaging and Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to develop pixelwise maps of tumor acidosis to aid in evaluating extracellular tumor pH (pHe) in cancer biology.

Procedures

MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 mouse models were imaged during a longitudinal study. AcidoCEST MRI and a series of image processing methods were used to produce parametric maps of tumor pHe, and tumor pHe was also measured with a pH microsensor.

Results

Sufficient contrast-to-noise for producing pHe maps was achieved by using standard image processing methods. A comparison of pHe values measured with acidoCEST MRI and a pH microsensor showed that acidoCEST MRI measured tumor pHe with an accuracy of 0.034 pH units. The MCF-7 tumor model was found to be more acidic compared to the MDA-MB-231 tumor model. The pHe was not related to tumor size during the longitudinal study.

Conclusions

These results show that acidoCEST MRI can create pixelwise tumor pHe maps of mouse models of cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Phoenix Friends of the Arizona Cancer Center, the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, and the Better Than Ever Program, R01CA167183-01 and P50 CA95060. L.Q.C. was supported through the Anne Rita Monahan Foundation. K.M.J. was supported through the Cardiovascular Biomedical Engineering Training Grant, T32HL007955. B.M. was supported through the NIH Minority Access to Research Careers grant T34 GM008718. The authors acknowledge the assistance of the Experimental Mouse Shared Services of the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Liu Qi Chen, Edward A. Randtke & Mark D. Pagel

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Kyle M. Jones, Brianna F. Moon, Christine M. Howison & Mark D. Pagel

  3. Department of Medical Imaging, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Mark D. Pagel

  4. University of Arizona Cancer Center, University of Arizona, 1515 N Campbell Avenue, Tucson, AZ, 85724-5024, USA

    Mark D. Pagel

Authors
  1. Liu Qi Chen
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  2. Edward A. Randtke
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  3. Kyle M. Jones
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  4. Brianna F. Moon
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  5. Christine M. Howison
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  6. Mark D. Pagel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark D. Pagel.

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Chen, L.Q., Randtke, E.A., Jones, K.M. et al. Evaluations of Tumor Acidosis Within In Vivo Tumor Models Using Parametric Maps Generated with AcidoCEST MRI. Mol Imaging Biol 17, 488–496 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-014-0816-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-014-0816-2

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