Special MRI Spots When Brain Tumors Turn Deadly

Study finds sophisticated imaging detects troubling increases in cerebral blood volume

By Carolyn Colwell
HealthDay Reporter

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THURSDAY, March 27 (HealthDay News) -- A sophisticated imaging technique can detect the changes in blood flow in the brain that often herald the emergence of highly malignant brain tumors, researchers report.

The British researchers said the discovery could one day help doctors time the treatment of brain tumors known as low-grade gliomas by using MRI technology to measure changes in "relative cerebral blood volume."

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"The clinical treatment of low-grade gliomas is controversial because none of the therapeutic options is curative and patients are often young and clinically well," said Adam D. Waldman, one of the lead investigators and imaging research director at Imperial College National Health Service Trust in London.

"Almost all low-grade gliomas, however, transform into aggressive high-grade tumors, although the timing of that is unpredictable," Waldman added. High-grade tumors are considered very malignant and grow quickly, he explained.

Finding a "marker" for that transformation was the goal of a three-year study by Waldman and his colleagues. Using perfusion MRI imaging with 13 patients, they found that increases in relative cerebral blood volume are a signal that the low-grade glioma is turning into a high-grade glioma. For brain tumors to grow, new blood vessels are formed during a process known as angiogenesis. These abnormal vessels increase blood flow to the tumor, according to the study.

"Essentially what we think perfusion imaging is demonstrating are the earliest changes in the tumor that go along with malignant change," Waldman said.

The findings will be published in the April issue of Radiology.

Perfusion MRI can detect the progression of malignant brain tumors at least 12 months earlier than current monitoring, the study authors suggested. They recommend that it be used routinely to identify patients who could benefit from early treatment.

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