Spatial Analysis of Preclinical Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (DCE-US) Images for Assessment of Tumour Response to Radiotherapy

Biomarkers of early response to cancer therapy can facilitate more effective treatment adaptation and improve cancer management. For radiation therapy, such indicators of response can be obtained from the tumour functional vasculature. Dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging (DCE-US) is investigated in this preclinical study as a suitable imaging modality to measure vascular changes. A decrease in the wash-out time and the area under the curve metrics following radiotherapy was observed in complete responders of cervical and head and neck preclinical tumour models respectively. In addition, a change in the wash-out time distribution was observed, implying selective vascular disruption within the tumour. The study demonstrates the potential of DCE-US for developing metrics of response of tumour vasculature.