[CT and MRI imaging in tumoral angiogenesis]

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Vascular Biology
• Medical Imaging

Context:

• Tumor growth relies on angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, often driven by Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).
• Tumor neovasculature exhibits abnormalities like fragility, hyper-permeability, and flow instability, impacting treatment effectiveness.
• Conventional imaging struggles to detect these microvascular changes, limiting assessment of anti-angiogenic therapies.

Purpose:

• To highlight the need for advanced imaging techniques capable of assessing tumor microvascularization.
• To explain how microvascular imaging quantifies functional blood flow disturbances rather than visualizing vessels directly.
• To discuss the potential of microvascular imaging in oncology patient care.

Summary:

• Microvascular imaging quantifies contrast agent or labeled proton passage to derive parameters like blood volume, perfusion, and capillary permeability.
• Advances in CT and MRI technology enhance spatial and temporal resolution for microvascular imaging.
• Despite software limitations, microvascular imaging aids in lesion characterization and early assessment of anti-angiogenic treatment response.

Impact:

• Microvascular imaging can improve early cancer detection and diagnosis by identifying suspicious lesions.
• It offers a method to evaluate the efficacy of anti-angiogenic treatments by assessing microvascular normalization.
• This technique provides early indicators of treatment response, preceding morphological changes seen in criteria like RECIST.