Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Longitudinal Intravital Imaging of Brain Tumor Cell Behavior in Response to an Invasive Surgical Biopsy
Published on: May 3, 2019
Prospective longitudinal analysis of imaging-based spatiotemporal tumor habitats in glioblastoma, IDH-wild type:
Hye Hyeon Moon1, Ji Eun Park2, NakYoung Kim3
1Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, 43 Olympic-ro 88, Songpa-Gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Physiologic MRI-based tumor habitat analysis has the potential to predict patient outcomes by identifying the spatiotemporal habitats of glioblastoma. This study aims to prospectively validate the cut-off for tumor progression obtained from tumor habitat analysis based on physiologic MRI in ascertaining time-to-progression (TTP) and the site of progression in glioblastoma patients following concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT).
Methods:
In this prospective study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02613988), we will recruit patients with IDH-wild type glioblastoma who underwent CCRT and obtained immediate post-operative and three serial post-CCRT MRI scans within a three-month interval, conducted using diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic susceptibility contrast imaging. Voxels from cerebral blood volume and apparent diffusion coefficient maps will be grouped using k-means clustering into three spatial habitats (hypervascular cellular, hypovascular cellular, and nonviable tissue). The spatiotemporal habitats of the tumor will be evaluated by comparing changes in each habitat between the serial MRI scans (post-operative and post-CCRT #1, #2, and #3). Associations between spatiotemporal habitats and TTP will be analyzed using cox proportional hazard modeling. The site of progression will be matched with spatiotemporal habitats.
Discussion:
The perfusion- and diffusion-derived tumor habitat in glioblastoma is expected to stratify TTP and may serve as an early predictor for tumor progression in patients with IDH wild-type glioblastoma.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02613988.

