Non-Invasive Detection of Lactate as a Biomarker of Response using Spectral Selective Multiple Quantum Editing Sequence (SS-SelMQC)

Abstract : This application focuses on enhancing cancer care by developing non-invasive techniques to determine better biomarkers to improve diagnostic specificity and decrease the number of negative biopsies, and also as markers of response with novel targeted agents such as Trastuzumab and Bevacizumab. Last year, we optimized lactate sequence (SS1-SelMQC) using higher order binomial pulses with better lipid suppression compared to original SS-SelMQC and started working on breast tumors. In this year, we completed data collection of lactate MR spectroscopy data of in vivo breast tumors with different expression levels of ER, PR, HER-2 as a function of Herceptin and Avastin. We completed quantification of 1D spectra and made significant progress in 2D quantification to explain tumor heterogeneity, an important step towards understanding treatment response. Presently, we are working on completing the data analysis of all 2D data analysis simultaneously along with the histological correlation.