Blood Flow MRI for Monitoring Brain Tumors

Our goals are: 1. To compare the blood flow measured with this technique with measures of tumor blood vessel density in pieces of the tumor surgically removed as a normal part of clinical treatment. This will confirm a relationship between the imaging measurements and the microscopic characteristics of tumors. 2. To compare the blood flow in tumors before therapy with the concentration of choline, an indicator of cell proliferation. This choline concentration can be measured with another MRI technique. This information will demonstrate the relationship between cell proliferation and blood supply and will also determine whether the choline measurement adds additional information that is clinically necessary. 3. To determine the reproducibility of blood flow measurements in tumors. This is necessary to better understand the sensitivity of the technique to changes in flow caused by a treatment or changes in tumor vascularity. 4. To monitor changes in blood flow after initial treatment. Since sometimes tumors can reappear, the repeated measures will help determine how useful this new imaging technique is at detecting such recurring tumors.