Articles
Cancer imaging
By Alliance Medical
25 November 2011
Using MRI to guide cancer treatment. An interview with Professor Kevin Brindle
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is a well-established, clinically applicable tool for determining tissue morphology. It is a medical imaging technique that is widely used in radiology to visualise detailed internal structures, as cross sections of the body.
At the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute (CRI) research led by Professor Kevin Brindle is underway to develop clinically applicable imaging methods using MRI that could be used to detect very early tumour responses to treatment. These could be used in early stage clinical trials of new drugs to get an indication of efficacy and subsequently, in the clinic, to guide therapy in individual patients.
An MRI machine uses a powerful magnetic field to align the magnetisation of some atoms in the body, and then uses radio frequency magnetic fields to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetisation. This causes the nuclei to produce a signal detectable by the scanner—and it is this information that is recorded and used to construct an image of the scanned area of the body. Strong magnetic field gradients cause nuclei at different locations to give signals at different frequencies. 3-D spatial information can be obtained by applying gradients in each direction.
MRI provides good contrast between the different soft tissues of the body, which makes it especially useful in imaging the brain, muscles, the heart, and cancers compared with other medical imaging techniques such as X ray computed tomography (CT). (Also see a recent CT article). Unlike CT scans or traditional X-rays, MRI uses no ionising radiation.
In the fight against cancer, imaging is a vital tool to detect cancer early on, and to understand how a patient is responding to different treatments. Research in MRI and PET has led to imaging equipment that allows scientists and doctors to watch cells in action by tracking markers injected into a patient’s body.
Professor Brindle is researching how patients react to a treatment within 24-48 hours, so that MRI can be used to guide subsequent treatment.
Patients with similar tumour types can show markedly different responses to the same therapy. The development of new treatments would benefit, therefore, from the introduction of imaging methods that allow an early response in individual patients, allowing rapid selection of the most effective treatment for a specific patient.
Brindle is using a cutting-edge technique that involves the use of hyper polarized 13C-labelled cell substrates. Nuclear spin hyperpolarisation offers enormous gains in sensitivity, as much as 10,000 times, which makes it possible not only to image the distribution of the injected 13C-labelled molecules, but also their metabolism to produce other molecules.
With this technique researchers have shown that they can detect early treatment response in lymphoma tumours by monitoring changes in the way that the tumour cells use these 13C-labelled molecules.
Professor Brindle said: “We think this technique may be able to guide therapy. We are hoping that it will lead to patients not having to take drugs that will not work for them. There are treatment choices - some people respond really well to one treatment, and others don’t. The standard method of treating cancer is for a patient to take a course of treatment and then determine whether the tumour has shrunk or not. This new technique should allow doctors to tell much more quickly whether a treatment is working.
“These techniques will help you to be able to pick the drug that works or try alternatives. It could be used to find the most effective doses during treatment. It should be a good way to target therapy more effectively."
“Pharmaceutical companies have a particular interest in using techniques like this for drug trials, the idea is they will be able to pick the drugs that are working much more quickly.”
The CRI aims to bring the scientific strengths of Cambridge to bear on practical questions of cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The Institute focuses specifically on the practical application of high-quality basic research, forming a bridge between the science of the University of Cambridge and its environment, Addenbrooke's Hospital, and other institutes and departments on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
It is core-funded by Cancer Research UK, which allows researchers to focus on answering challenging research questions. In addition group leaders apply for grants from external funding agencies to support their work, and around 50 per cent of PhD students and postdocs are externally funded.
For more about the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, visit cambridgecancer.org.uk
Using MRI to guide cancer treatment. An interview with Professor Kevin Brindle
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is a well-established, clinically applicable tool for determining tissue morphology. It is a medical imaging technique that is widely used in radiology to visualise detailed internal structures, as cross sections of the body.
At the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute (CRI) research led by Professor Kevin Brindle is underway to develop clinically applicable imaging methods using MRI that could be used to detect very early tumour responses to treatment. These could be used in early stage clinical trials of new drugs to get an indication of efficacy and subsequently, in the clinic, to guide therapy in individual patients.
An MRI machine uses a powerful magnetic field to align the magnetisation of some atoms in the body, and then uses radio frequency magnetic fields to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetisation. This causes the nuclei to produce a signal detectable by the scanner—and it is this information that is recorded and used to construct an image of the scanned area of the body. Strong magnetic field gradients cause nuclei at different locations to give signals at different frequencies. 3-D spatial information can be obtained by applying gradients in each direction.
MRI provides good contrast between the different soft tissues of the body, which makes it especially useful in imaging the brain, muscles, the heart, and cancers compared with other medical imaging techniques such as X ray computed tomography (CT). (Also see a recent CT article). Unlike CT scans or traditional X-rays, MRI uses no ionising radiation.
In the fight against cancer, imaging is a vital tool to detect cancer early on, and to understand how a patient is responding to different treatments. Research in MRI and PET has led to imaging equipment that allows scientists and doctors to watch cells in action by tracking markers injected into a patient’s body.
Professor Brindle is researching how patients react to a treatment within 24-48 hours, so that MRI can be used to guide subsequent treatment.
Patients with similar tumour types can show markedly different responses to the same therapy. The development of new treatments would benefit, therefore, from the introduction of imaging methods that allow an early response in individual patients, allowing rapid selection of the most effective treatment for a specific patient.
Brindle is using a cutting-edge technique that involves the use of hyper polarized 13C-labelled cell substrates. Nuclear spin hyperpolarisation offers enormous gains in sensitivity, as much as 10,000 times, which makes it possible not only to image the distribution of the injected 13C-labelled molecules, but also their metabolism to produce other molecules.
With this technique researchers have shown that they can detect early treatment response in lymphoma tumours by monitoring changes in the way that the tumour cells use these 13C-labelled molecules.
Professor Brindle said: “We think this technique may be able to guide therapy. We are hoping that it will lead to patients not having to take drugs that will not work for them. There are treatment choices - some people respond really well to one treatment, and others don’t. The standard method of treating cancer is for a patient to take a course of treatment and then determine whether the tumour has shrunk or not. This new technique should allow doctors to tell much more quickly whether a treatment is working.
“These techniques will help you to be able to pick the drug that works or try alternatives. It could be used to find the most effective doses during treatment. It should be a good way to target therapy more effectively."
“Pharmaceutical companies have a particular interest in using techniques like this for drug trials, the idea is they will be able to pick the drugs that are working much more quickly.”
The CRI aims to bring the scientific strengths of Cambridge to bear on practical questions of cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The Institute focuses specifically on the practical application of high-quality basic research, forming a bridge between the science of the University of Cambridge and its environment, Addenbrooke's Hospital, and other institutes and departments on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
It is core-funded by Cancer Research UK, which allows researchers to focus on answering challenging research questions. In addition group leaders apply for grants from external funding agencies to support their work, and around 50 per cent of PhD students and postdocs are externally funded.
For more about the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, visit cambridgecancer.org.uk
Friday, 25 November 2011
