Advancing the Application of Magnetic Resonance in Cancer: Structural, Functional and Molecular Studies of Tumours and

这项提议旨在建立一个领先的3T磁共振设施，以支持癌症成像方面的主要研究计划，这些计划侧重于肿瘤检测、疾病范围和侵袭性的评估以及新癌症疗法的评估。这项建议将建立在癌症研究所和皇家马斯登医院20年来将磁共振应用于癌症的经验的基础上，加强由英国癌症研究中心和NHS研发活动资助的主要研究计划。3T提供的更高信号使高分辨率图像能够改进肿瘤检测，但也使功能信息能够获得，这在常规磁场强度下可能是不可能的。许多计划中的研究使用了功能图像，除了测量肿瘤的范围外，还测量了肿瘤的行为和特征。较高的磁场强度提高了对MR造影剂信号的敏感度，从而可以更准确地评估肿瘤的血液供应。肿瘤细胞的水成分和活性也将更容易评估，并可能使用多核磁共振光谱学对生物化学途径进行详细询问。这将使评估新的抗癌药物对细胞中特定过程的作用成为可能。

This proposal aims to establish a leading edge 3T magnetic resonance facility to support majorprogrammes of research in cancer imaging that focus on tumour detection, assessment ofdisease extent and aggressiveness, and evaluation of new cancer therapies. The proposal willbuild on 20 years of experience in applying magnetic resonance to cancer at The Institute ofCancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital enhancing major research programmesfunded through Cancer Research UK and through NHS research and development activities.The increased signal available at 3T allows high-resolution images for improved tumourdetection, but also enables functional information to be acquired, which may not be possible atconventional field strengths. Much of the planned research uses functional images, where thebehaviour and characteristics of tumour are measured, in addition to their extent. The higherfield strength provides increased sensitivity to signals from MR contrast agents, allowing moreaccurate assessment of tumour blood supply. The water composition and viability of cells withina tumour will also be assessed more easily and the detailed interrogation of biochemicalpathways will be made possible using multi-nuclear MR spectroscopy. This will enableassessment of the action of new anti-cancer drugs on specific processes in cells.