ABSTRACT
Purpose: Magnetic hyperthermia treatment
(MHT) is a strategy for cancer therapy using the tem-perature rise of magnetic
nanoparticles (MNPs) under an alternating magnetic field (AMF). Re-cently, a
new imaging method called magnetic particle imaging (MPI) has been introduced.
MPI allows imaging of the spatial distribution of MNPs. The purpose of this
study was to investigate the feasibility of visualizing and quantifying the
intratumoral distribution and temporal change of MNPs and predicting the
therapeutic effect of MHT using MPI. Materials and Methods: Colon-26 cells (1 ×
106 cells) were implanted into the backs of eight-week-old male BALB/c mice.
When the tumor volume reached approximately 100 mm3, mice were divided into
untreated (n = 10) and treated groups (n = 27). The tumors in the treated group
were directly injected with MNPs (Resovist?) with iron concentrations of 500 mM
(A, n = 9), 400 mM (B, n = 8), and 250 mM (C, n = 10), respectively, and MHT
was performed using an AMF with a frequency of 600 kHz and a peak amplitude of
3.5 kA/m. The mice in the treated group were scanned using our MPI scanner
immediately before, immediately after, 7 days, and 14 days after MHT. We drew a
region of interest (ROI) on the tumor in the MPI image and calculated the average,
maximum, and total MPI values and the number of pixels by taking the threshold
value for extracting the contour as 40% of the maximum MPI value (pixel value)
within the ROI. These parameters in the untreated group were taken as zero. We
also measured the relative tumor volume growth (RTVG) defined by (V－V0)/V0,
where V0 and V are the tumor volumes immediately before and after MHT,
respectively. Results: The average, maximum, and total MPI values decreased up
to 7 days after MHT and remained almost constant thereafter in all groups,
whereas the number of pixels tended to increase with time. The RTVG values in
Groups A and B were significantly lower than those in the control group 3 days
or more and 5 days or more after MHT, respectively. The above four parameters
were significantly inversely correlated with the RTVG values 5, 7, and 14 days
after MHT. Conclusion: MPI can visualize and quantify the intratumoral
distribution and temporal change of MNPs before and after MHT. Our results
suggest that MPI will be useful for predicting the therapeutic effect of MHT
and for the treatment planning of MHT.
Share and Cite:
Kuboyabu, T. , Yabata, I. , Aoki, M. , Banura, N. , Nishimoto, K. , Mimura, A. and Murase, K. (2016) Magnetic Particle Imaging for Magnetic Hyperthermia Treatment: Visualization and Quantification of the Intratumoral Distribution and Temporal Change of Magnetic Nanoparticles
in Vivo.
Open Journal of Medical Imaging,
6, 1-15. doi:
10.4236/ojmi.2016.61001.