Quantitative MRS of the Human Breast at 3T

非常需要用于评估乳腺癌的改进的非侵入性工具。的技术叫做 通常沿着MRI检查进行的磁共振波谱（MRS）可以产生 关于乳房中不同病变内特定代谢物的量的信息。的量 已知由含胆碱化合物（tCho）产生的信号在恶性肿瘤中比在恶性肿瘤中更高。 良性和正常组织。许多小组先前的工作已经证明，测量tCho可以 提供临床有用的信息。在临床1.5 T MR扫描仪上，简单地检测到tCho信号表明 疑似病变是恶性的还已经表明，tCho信号响应于 成功的化疗，表明它可以作为反应的早期指标。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。这对于进行纵向研究尤其重要，例如 监测治疗反应。还需要定量测量来进行诊断， 更高场扫描仪，因为灵敏度的提高使tCho在良性病变和正常乳腺中可检测到 组织中 本项目的目标是开发和展示一种可靠的方法，使定量tCho 在临床3T MR扫描仪上测量乳腺病变。具体目标是：1）优化脉冲 序列和采集方法，2）评价再现性并识别错误来源，以及3） 证明在小型患者研究中监测治疗反应的可行性。这种平移 该研究项目将为临床MR系统带来先进的研究方法，并提供基础 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.