Combined endogenous MR biomarkers to assess tumor oxygenation and response to radiation therapy

Hypoxia is the common feature of most solid tumors. The hypoxic environment is associated with the reduced efficacy of cancer treatments, especially radiation therapy. Although modification of tumor hypoxia improves the outcome of radiation therapy, screening for the presence of hypoxia has not been the entry criterion prior to hypoxia modification trials. To bridge the gap between the occurrence of tumor hypoxia and the routine clinical practice, there is an important need to have a method to robustly map tumor oxygenation for patient stratification and treatment adaptation. Among the methods that have been developed to measure hypoxia, MRI endogenous contrast markers, R1 and R2*, appear to be a relevant approach for this purpose. Since there is a lack of study comparing R1 and R2* in response to oxygen modifiers, the aim of this thesis is to address the value of R1 and R2* to assess tumor oxygenation and response to radiation therapy using different oxygen modifiers.(BIFA - Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques) -- UCL, 201