Investigation of MRI, FMRI, and MRSI for IMRT Target Definition and Outcome Assessment

Investigating the use of physiologic MRI for tumor and critical structure definition in IMRT planning and treatment outcome assessment

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Full Project Name:Investigation of MRI, FMRI, and MRSI for IMRT Target Definition and Outcome AssessmentPrincipal Investigator:X Allen Li, PhD, Radiation OncologyCo-Investigator:Christopher Schultz, MD, Radiation Oncology; Kathleen Schmainda, PhD, Biophysics; John Ulmer, MD, Radiology; Robert Prost, PhD, Radiology; Edgar DeYoe, PhD, RadiologyAward Amount:$249,770

Award Date

July2004

Project Duration:36 months

Project Description Narrative:

An estimated 26,160 new cases of cancer are expected in Wisconsin in 2004. This project, which aims to improve the current standard of care for radiation therapy for cancer, has great potential to increase local and regional tumor control and to reduce treatment toxicities.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) that is capable of delivering highly specific dose distributions with sub-centimeter resolution is receiving great interest and acceptance in radiation oncology. However, big questions remain relating to the desired dose distributions and when and where to deliver such dose distributions. There is growing evidence that indicates that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI) and MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) can provide the pertinent information (e.g., anatomic, metabolic, biochemical, physiological, and functional information of the tumor and/or normal structures) to guide the delivery of IMRT. However, the capabilities of fMRI/MRSI have, to date, been significantly underutilized in radiation therapy, due in part to the limited ability to correlate voxel-by-voxel MR findings with voxel-by-voxel dosimetric data.