Measurements of T1 and T2 relaxation times of colon cancer metastases in rat liver at 7T

The purpose of this study was to investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of colon cancer metastases in rat liver at 7 T. A dedicated RF microstrip coil of novel design was built in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and, in combination with respiratory triggering, to minimize motion artifacts. T-1- and T-2-weighted MR imaging was performed to follow tumor growth. T-1-weighted images provided a good anatomical delineation of the liver structure, while the best contrast between metastases and normal liver tissue was achieved with T2-weighted images. Measurements of T-1 and T-2 relaxation times were performed with inversion recovery FLASH and Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill and inversion recovery FLASH imaging sequences, respectively, for quantitative MR characterization of metastases. Both the T-1 and T-2 of the metastases were significantly higher than those of normal liver tissue. Further, an increase in the T-1 relaxation time of the metastases was observed with tumor growth. These findings suggest that quantitative in vivo MR characterization provides information on tumor development and possibly response to therapy, though additional studies are needed to elucidate the correlation between the changes in relaxation times and tumor microenvironment.