U.K. researchers are using an oxygen-enhanced MRI test to detect dangerous tumors before they spread through the body and help design treatment for those patients.
Oxygen-enhanced MRI, described in an article posted online on 10 December by Cancer Research, is designed to map areas within tumors that lack oxygen and is often a sign that a cancer is growing aggressively.
Oxygen-enhanced MRI monitors alterations in image intensity caused by changes in the concentration of dissolved oxygen in blood plasma and tissue fluid during inhalation of pure oxygen gas.
Researchers from the University of Manchester and the Institute of Cancer Research, London believe images of oxygen-deprived tumor areas would change intensity less dramatically than better-oxygenated areas.
The finding also could lead to more effective radiotherapy planning, which would increase doses of x-rays targeting oxygen-deficient areas within tumors and new ways of monitoring the progress of radiotherapy and drug treatments.
