Oxygenation in Cervical Cancer and Normal Uterine Cervix assessed using BOLD MRI at 3 Tesla: Initial Experiences

INTRODUCTION Prognosis is particularly poor for cervical cancer patients who present with large hypoxic tumors. While tumor size can be assessed non-invasively, invasive electrodes have been required to measure oxygenation. A noninvasive assessment would be particularly attractive to patients and physicians and potentially allow the design of personalized medicine regimes (1). BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level Dependant) contrast MRI is a non-invasive technique sensitive to tumor vascular oxygenation (2) that we have tested to assess cervical cancer in this study. Deoxyhemoglobin causes T2* shortening and the signal change accompanying an oxygen breathing challenge can indicate vascular oxygen dynamics. This process has been shown to relate to elimination of hypoxic fractions in rat breast tumors (3). We seek to evaluate whether BOLD response to hyperoxic gas challenge has prognostic value for these patients.