Quantitative MRS of the Human Breast at 3T

非常需要改进的非侵入性工具来评估乳腺癌。一种名为 磁共振波谱(MRS)通常与核磁共振检查一起进行，可以产生 关于乳房内不同病变内特定代谢物的数量的信息。金额的多少 已知含有胆碱的化合物(TCHO)产生的信号在恶性肿瘤中比在 良性和正常组织。许多研究小组之前的工作已经证明，测量Tcho可以 提供临床上有用的信息。在临床1.5T磁共振扫描仪上，简单地检测Tcho信号就表明 可疑的病变是恶性的。也已经表明，Tcho信号响应于 化疗成功，提示可作为早期疗效指标。这些 研究结果令人鼓舞，并显示出临床潜力。然而，如果要将乳房MRS制作成 临床上可用的工具，将有必要产生定量的，可靠的测量TCHO，而不是 可探测性的定性判断。这对于执行纵向研究尤其关键，例如 监测治疗反应。还需要进行定量测量才能进行诊断 高场扫描仪，因为增加的灵敏度使TCHO可以在良性病变和正常乳房中检测到 纸巾。 这个项目的目标是开发和演示一种可靠的定量TCHO方法 临床3T磁共振乳腺病变的测量。具体目标是：1)优化脉搏 序列和采集方法，2)评估重复性并确定误差来源，以及3) 在一项小患者研究中证明监测治疗反应的可行性。此翻译 研究项目将把先进的研究方法带到临床磁共振系统中，为临床磁共振系统的研究提供基础 用于评估临床疗效所需的大规模、多中心试验。

There is a great need for improved non-invasive tools for evaluating breast cancer. A technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), generally performed along with a MRI examination, can produce information about the quantities of specific metabolites within a distinct lesion in a breast. The amount of signal produced by choline-containing compounds (tCho) is known to be higher in malignant tumors than in benign and normal tissues. Previous work by a number of groups has demonstrated that measuring tCho can provide clinically useful information. On clinical 1.5 T MR scanners, simply detecting a tCho signal indicates that a suspect lesion is malignant. It has also been shown that the tCho signal decreases in response to successful chemotherapy treatment, suggesting that it can be used as an early indicator of response. These findings are encouraging and demonstrate clinical potential. However, if breast MRS is to be made into a clinically usable tool, it will be necessary to produce quantitative, reliable measurements of tCho, rather than qualitative judgments of detectability. This is particularly critical for performing longitudinal studies, such as monitoring treatment response. Quantitative measurements are also required for performing diagnosis with higher-field scanners, as the increased sensitivity makes tCho detectable in benign lesions and normal breast tissues. The goal of this project is to develop and demonstrate a reliable methodology for making quantitative tCho measurements in breast lesions on clinical 3T MR scanners. The specific aims are to 1) optimize pulse sequences and aquisition methods, 2) evaluate reproducibility and identify sources of error, and 3) demonstrate feasibility of monitoring response to treatment in a small patient study. This translational research project will bring advanced research methods to a clinical MR system, and provide the foundation for large-scale, multi-center trials that are required to evaluate clinical efficacy.