TUMOR BLOOD-FLOW MEASURED USING DYNAMIC COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. A method for measuring the tumor blood flow (TBF) by means of dynamic computed tomography (DCT) was devised and investigated. METHODS. Twenty-seven patients with superficial tumors underwent measurement of TBF by the new DCT method. For all of the 27 patients, the thermal clearance method was employed to measure the relative tumor blood flow (RTBF). For 16 patients, TBF was measured by oxygen-15-gas positron-emission tomography (PET). The TBF values measured by DCT were compared with the RTBF by the thermal clearance method and the TBF by PET. RESULTS. The results demonstrated a linear relationship. CONCLUSIONS. The newly devised DCT method yields reliable data in measuring TBF.