MR Metabolic Biomarkers for Cervical Cancer

In the first part of this project, we aim to identify the differences in cancer metabolism between normal and cervical cancer. Conventional MR study plus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) sequences will be carried out on 30 eligible surgical candidates for pretreatment clinical assessment. Metabolites in cancer tissue will be collected during operation and analyzed using high resolution MRS, and compared with control group comprising 30 patients with normal cervical tissue. The primary endpoint of this part is to identify different MRS profiles between normal and cancer subjects. We will investigate the underlying biological mechanism between these two groups by evaluating status of HPV infection and autophagy. In the second part, we aim to understand cancer metabolism in cervical cancers infected by different types of HPV. We plan to enroll another 30 surgical candidates and complete the data regarding clinical MRS/DWI and tissue high resolution MRS. Together with the 30 cancer subjects in part one there will be in total 60 cancer subjects for analysis. The primary endpoint of this part is to compare MRS profiles from cancer tissue infected with different HPV genotypes, particularly HPV type 16 and HPV type 18. The secondary endpoint is to correlate the tissue MRS profiles with the in vivo MRS/DWI measured by clinical MR scanner. In the third part of this project, we aim to investigate cancer metabolism under combined chemoradiation therapy (CCRT). We plan to enroll 60 patients primarily treated with CCRT and collect the data using clinical MR and tissue high-resolution MRS. Tissue MRS profiles will be correlated with the HPV, E6/E7 and autophagy.

The advance in knowledge of this project is to unwire the complex relationship among cancer metabolism, HPV infection and autophagy in cervical cancer. The clinical impact is the development of MR biomarkers for cancer metabolism and autophagy, both play important roles in the resistance to cancer therapy. The inherited non-invasiveness and non-radiation nature makes MR technique an ideal platform for clinical usage.

Inclusion criteria

• be able to give informed consent.
• female patients between 20 and 80 years of age.
• biopsy proven newly diagnosed cervical cancer clinical stage International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Ib and above.
• patients must be willing to undergo standard treatment such as surgery or chemo-radiation therapy.

Exclusion criteria

• patients who are judged to be noncompliant to treatment or not accessible for follow up.
• patients with contraindications to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning, such as claustrophobia, cardiac pacemaker, metal implants in field of view, or unable to cooperate for MRI study due to mental status.