New MRI Imaging Technique Detects Cancer

The technique has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in detecting breast and prostate cancer.

After the contrast agent is injected into the patient, the suspected tumor site is scanned repeatedly by MRI for several minutes. Special software analyzes three of the MRI images, one before and two after the injection, and then creates a colored likeness of the tumor area based on the resulting data. A preponderance of red in the picture indicates malignancy, while mainly blue and green are signs of benign growth.

Malignancies contain many small, new blood vessels and the blood flow in and out of the area is usually accelerated. In addition, tumor cells are distributed unevenly. Thus, the contrast agent will enter and clear out of a cancerous tumor faster, and contrast agent escaping vessel walls will be highlighted, along with the spaces between cells. The technique is called 3TP (three time point). In clinical trials, the technique has diagnosed solid growths larger than 5 mm nearly 100% of the time, and the accuracy rate for all trials was close to 90%.

The procedure, developed by Prof. Hadassa Degani at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel), is now moving from the trial stage to clinical use on breast and prostate cancer, with research starting on the lungs.




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Weizmann Institute