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A Protocol for Rapid Post-mortem Cell Culture of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma DIPG
Published on: March 7, 2017
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Diffusion tensor histogram analysis of pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma
Emilie A Steffen-Smith1, Joelle E Sarlls2, Carlo Pierpaoli3
1Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 1-5750, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Biomed Research International
|July 10, 2014
Summary
Mean diffusivity (MD) histograms reveal changes in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) tumor structure over time. Corticosteroid use significantly impacts MD, acting as a confounding factor in treatment response assessments.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Neuroimaging
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a challenging pediatric brain tumor.
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) provides insights into tissue microstructure.
- Mean diffusivity (MD) is a key DTI-derived metric.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate pediatric DIPG tumor structure using MD histogram analysis.
- Assess treatment and corticosteroid effects on MD.
- Monitor longitudinal changes in MD distributions.
Main Methods:
- DTI performed on a 1.5T GE scanner.
- Analysis of MD histograms from FLAIR-defined tumor regions.
- Two-normal mixture modeling for MD distribution patterns.
- Statistical evaluation of treatment and corticosteroid effects.
Main Results:
- MD histogram distributions varied significantly among 12 DIPG patients.
- Tumor structure showed quantifiable changes over time (shorter, broader peaks; P=0.0443).
- Corticosteroid use strongly influenced MD histograms (R(2)=0.51, P=0.0028), showing larger, sharper peaks.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric DIPG exhibits significant interpatient and intratumoral heterogeneity in MD.
- MD histograms can track structural changes in DIPG over time.
- Corticosteroids are a critical confounding factor in interpreting DIPG MD for treatment response.
