g. internal structure, oedema in the tumor environment, necrotic areas). We observed a pronounced interior structuring of an s.c. HT29 tumor after i.v. injection of the contrast agent Gd-BOPTA. Histological analyses revealed

that a large central necrotic/fibrotic area was associated with contrast enhancement. Such an effect can also be observed in patient tumors. After the characteristic initial tumor rim enhancement a centripetal progression of the signal can occur depending on the tumor structure, e.g. determined by different vascular architecture [12, 15, 21]. Early peripheral enhancement with centripetal progression was seen in invasive carcinomas with a high peripheral and a low central microvessel density, which was associated with fibrosis and/or necrosis [12, 21]. This demonstrates that depending on the tumor and used contrast agent the BT-MRI system is suitable for observation of intratumoral PF477736 structures and that characteristic features of patient tumors can be reproduced in the model system. It offers the opportunity to follow intratumoral processes under therapy. Further work will be done particularly with regard to imaging of

different orthotopic installed tumors and their progression as well as the development of metastatic disease. Other contrast agents will also be examined in order to find Selleck Eltanexor better enhancement of (small) tumor sites and metastases. Moreover, other contrast enhancer could lead to better results for imaging of interior tumor structures. Conclusions The results of the current study show that BT-MRI is, despite its limitations with respect to the magnetic field strength and magnet homogeneity, clearly capable of providing satisfactory image slice quality to visualize organs and tumors and to monitor tumor progression in mouse models. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr. Ian Nicholson and his colleagues from Oxford Instruments for the development, manufacture and installation of the BT-MRI prototype apparatus. Ponatinib mw The study was supported in part by grants from the Federal State of Saxonia-Anhalt (FKZ 3646A/0907). References 1. Malaterre V, Metz H, Ogorka J, Gurny R, Loggia N, Mader K:

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