Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Dynamic Lung Tumor Tracking for Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiation Therapy
Published on: June 7, 2015
GRASP Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI Can Be Used to Monitor Response to Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Head and Neck
Nabeeha Khan1, Matthew D Lee1, Naila Ismail1
1From the University of South Carolina School of Medicine-Greenville (N.K.), Greenville, South Carolina; Department of Radiology (M.D.L., G.F., M.H., G.M.), Neurosurgery (D.K.), Radiation Oncology (D.K.), New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (N.I.), Newark, New Jersey.
Background And Purpose:
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an effective management approach for many patients with head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGLs). However, treated paragangliomas may not significantly decrease in volume or subjective enhancement on conventional MRI. We investigated the utility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) using golden-angle radial sparse parallel (GRASP) technique to detect vascular changes in HNPGLs after SRS, hypothesizing that controlled paragangliomas would demonstrate evidence of lower permeability post-SRS.
Materials And Methods:
We retrospectively analyzed 14 patients with HNPGLs managed with gamma-knife SRS from 2015 to 2024 at our institution who had GRASP DCE-MRI before and after treatment. Tumor enhancement kinetics were quantified using wash-in slope, wash-out slope, peak enhancement, and time to peak, normalized to the superior sagittal sinus. Tumors volumes were calculated from postcontrast images. Pre- and post-SRS parameters were compared using paired statistical tests.
Results:
Median time between pre- and post-SRS imaging was 26 months. Tumor volume decreased modestly (median change -0.18 mL, p=.001) or remained stable in all but one case. Significant reductions were observed in normalized wash-in slope (p=.01), wash-out slope (p=.01), and peak enhancement (p=.02) following SRS.
Conclusions:
GRASP DCE-MRI detected significant changes in enhancement kinetics of HNPGLs following SRS, suggesting that dynamic imaging may serve as a biomarker of treatment response. These findings support the integration of functional imaging alongside conventional MRI sequences in post-treatment assessment of HNPGL.
