QTIME - Quantitative metabolic 7T imaging of tumours

Local mutations of brain tumour cells have become important over the last decade to the classification of different tumour types. They and resulting changes in tumour biochemistry and especially metabolism are also known to vary in time and space within a tumour. These changes are also suspected to be important for the spread of tumours in the brain that eventually leads to death. Our team has developed a new method for high-resolution imaging of metabolites in the brain with 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). It manages to show spatial and biochemical variation in tumour metabolism but is limited for now as it cannot directly detect the amount of tumour metabolites and has not been verified by methods that can precisely determine these amounts. This project will address this limitation. We want to introduce the mapping of water concentrations in brain tumours into our measurements which will allow us to calculate the concentrations of tumour metabolites as well. From these concentration maps, we will define volumes of interest were neurosurgeons will take samples during surgery to remove as much of the tumour volume as is safe. These samples will be flash-frozen for chemical analysis with mass spectrometry. These measurements will allow us to confirm and adjust our 7T MRSI concentration scans. Altogether, our results will allow us to create a database of tumour metabolism that we can use to find new research questions for future studies. Quantitative 7T MRSI of brain tumours is not possible yet. After referencing our method with mass spectroscopy, it can be far better tested for uses in non-invasive diagnostics and treatment planning. With metabolic data on an individuals brain tumour, precision medicine could lead to longer an better survival following long-term research.