Vanderbilt Health has received a five-year, $3.4 million Academic-Industrial Partnership grant from the National Cancer Institute to support development of magnetic resonance (MR) cytometry as a new tool for breast cancer imaging.
MR cytometry is a magnetic resonance imaging technology pioneered by Vanderbilt Health investigators that provides information about tumor microstructure which cannot be obtained from conventional MRI.
Junzhong Xu, PhD, Director of Cancer Imaging Research at the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS), is principal investigator of the project. He will work with VUIIS Director John Gore, PhD, and with grant co-investigator Ryan Robison, PhD, MR Clinical Science Leader for North America at Philips Healthcare.
The investigators will integrate the technique into existing clinical MRI systems and develop a quality control system to support consistent use across scanners and institutions. They will then work with researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle to evaluate this technology in clinical breast cancer imaging.
This project “represents an important step in translating a Vanderbilt-developed imaging technology into a tool that could eventually be used in routine clinical care,” Xu said. “Working closely with Philips allows us to address the technical challenges required to move the method beyond a research environment and toward broader clinical use.”
Despite significant advances in early detection and treatment in recent years, breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer mortality in women. Tissue biopsies provide essential diagnostic information but may provide an incomplete picture of the tumor and are difficult to repeat frequently over the course of treatment.
MR cytometry uses advanced diffusion MRI technology, including oscillating gradient spin echo, to probe how water molecules move within tumors at micrometer length scales. Advanced data acquisition and analysis of this movement enable researchers to estimate mean cell size and cell density noninvasively.
Combining biopsy findings with MR cytometry could give clinicians a more complete picture of a tumor and potentially help guide treatment decisions.
“The ability to measure cell size, cell density and other microstructural features using oscillating gradient diffusion imaging is immensely exciting, given its potential to monitor disease progression and inform clinical decision-making,” Robison said.
“Working alongside Dr. Xu and the team at VUIIS is a tremendous privilege, as they are the pioneers of this technique and are widely recognized as the world leaders in its development, validation and clinical translation,” he said.
“We have had a strong relationship with Philips for over 20 years, and it is encouraging to obtain funding that will be of mutual benefit and help patients,” said Gore, University Distinguished Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, and holder of the Hertha Ramsey Cress Chair in Medicine.
Xu, Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, said MR cytometry has the potential to be applied to imaging other cancers and diseases in which changes in cellular microstructure are important.
The NCI Academic-Industrial Partnership grant (R01CA308592) supporting the research is designed to move promising technologies toward clinical use through collaborations between academic and industry partners.
