A phantom study of chemoCEST imaging for the detection of anticancer agents using clinical 3T MRI. Presidential award proceedings

The purpose of this phantom study was to assess the effectiveness of chemical exchange saturation transfer imaging (CEST) for detecting anticancer agents (chemoCEST) using clinical 3T MRI. The magnetization transfer ratio asymmetry (MTRasym) was used to map the chemoCEST contrast, which demonstrated that the anticancer drug concentration was proportional to chemoCEST. CEST MR was used to identify the anticancer drugs which corresponded to the amide (-NH₂) and hydroxyl (-OH) groups. ChemoCEST imaging can serve as a new imaging tool to detect anticancer drugs and monitor their delivery. (author)