Imaging of Hypoxic Tumor: Correlation between Diffusion-weighted MR Imaging and 18F-fluoroazomycin Arabinoside Positron Emission Tomography in Head and Neck Carcinoma

Akiko Imaizumi; Takayuki Obata; Jeff Kershaw; Yasuhiko Tachibana; Masayuki Inubushi; Mitsuru Koizumi; Kyosan Yoshikawa; Ming-Rong Zhang; Katsuyuki Tanimoto; Rintaro Harada; Takashi Uno; Tsuneo Saga

doi:10.2463/mrms.tn.2019-0007

Imaging of Hypoxic Tumor: Correlation between Diffusion-weighted MR Imaging and ¹⁸F-fluoroazomycin Arabinoside Positron Emission Tomography in Head and Neck Carcinoma

Magn Reson Med Sci. 2020 Aug 3;19(3):276-281. doi: 10.2463/mrms.tn.2019-0007. Epub 2019 Sep 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Applied MRI Research, Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology.
² Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School.
³ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Cancer Institute Hospital, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research.
⁴ Advanced Imaging Center, Tokyo Bay Advanced Imaging and Radiation Oncology Clinic Makuhari, Aoikai Medical Corporation.
⁵ Department of Radiopharmaceuticals Development, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology.
⁶ Hospital of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology.
⁷ Diagnostic Radiology and Radiation Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University.
⁸ Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University.

Abstract

We investigated the usefulness of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for detecting changes in the structure of hypoxic cells by evaluating the correlation between ¹⁸F-fluoroazomycin arabinoside (FAZA) positron emission tomography activity and DWI parameters in head and neck carcinoma. The diffusion coefficient corresponding to the slow compartment of a two-compartment model had a significant positive correlation with FAZA activity (ρ = 0.58, P = 0.016), whereas the diffusional kurtosis from diffusion kurtosis imaging had a significant negative correlation (ρ = -0.62, P = 0.008), which suggests that those DWI parameters might be useful as indicators for changes in cell structure.

Keywords: 18F-fluoroazomycin arabinoside positron emission tomography; diffusion-weighted imaging; head and neck carcinoma; hypoxia.

MeSH terms

Cell Hypoxia / physiology*
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
Head and Neck Neoplasms* / diagnostic imaging
Head and Neck Neoplasms* / physiopathology
Humans
Nitroimidazoles / pharmacokinetics*
Nitroimidazoles / therapeutic use
Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
Radiopharmaceuticals / pharmacokinetics
Radiopharmaceuticals / therapeutic use

Substances

Nitroimidazoles
Radiopharmaceuticals
fluoroazomycin arabinoside