Medical Physics Seminar – Thursday, May 15, 2014
Viability of DCE-CT Kinetic Analysis in Oncology
Matt LaFontaine (student of Dr. Robert Jeraj)
Research Assistant, Department of Medical Physics, UW-School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, WI - USA –
Test
Dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (DCE-CT) is a non-invasive imaging modality used to measure vasculature status through kinetic analysis. Due to its clinical success in stroke patients to determine viable from non-viable tissue, interest has arisen for applications to oncology. However, DCE-CT kinetic analysis lacks standardization making studies incomparable. The quantitative accuracy of the kinetic parameters may differ between studies due to the utilization of differing imaging protocols, kinetic models, or correction factors.
The overall goal of this study was to investigate the viability of DCE-CT kinetic analysis in oncology. First, we developed and characterized DCE-CT kinetic models, along with the factors affecting the quantitative accuracy and precision of the kinetic parameters. Second, we focused on cross-comparing imaging modalities by correlating DCE-CT kinetic parameters to dynamic FLT-PET kinetic parameters. Lastly, the kinetic parameters from DCE-CT kinetic analysis were compared to pre-treatment PET tracer SUV values as well as response to radiation therapy in order to gain insight to the complementary information provided by the separate tracers. The PET tracers of interest were used to image metabolism (FDG), proliferation (FLT), and hypoxia (Cu-ATSM) of the tumor.