# Development of multinuclear MRI for image guided therapy of glioma patients

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2024 · $682,470

## Abstract

7. Project Summary/Abstract
Gliomas have a low survival rate of 36% at five-years, half the average survival rate across all cancers
according to the last SEER and CBTRUS reports. Malignant brain tumors cause on average 20 years of
potential life lost (YPLL), exceeding most cancers. Survival and YPLL have not improved for gliomas as in
other cancers and urgent progress is needed. Recent studies showed maximal surgical resection extends
survival of glioma patients. However, glioma margins are ambiguous on conventional anatomical imaging, and
neurosurgeons are in great need for more specific imaging to map tumor boundary. Gliomas have large
metabolic alterations, most notably D-2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), cystathionine and nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations. Imaging metabolism using proton (1H) and
phosphorus (31P) magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has high specificity for glioma. Mapping
tumor margins requires high resolution, which is challenging for metabolic imaging. Our project addresses
neurosurgeons’ need for high resolution metabolic imaging. Recent discoveries highlighted metabolism role in
modulating epigenetic factors, gene expression and immune system responsible for tumor progression. Hence,
new treatment strategies target metabolic pathways to increase the effect of chemoradiation and
immunotherapy to prevent tumor resistance and relapse. Metabolic imaging can accelerate clinical trials of
novel therapies, and its development has been mandated by the last neuro-oncology consensus (SNO,
EANO). The long-term goal of our research is to create non-invasive metabolic cancer imaging tools for
personalized precision oncology. The objective of this application is to develop fast high-resolution whole-brain
quantitative metabolic multinuclear MR imaging for image guided therapy of glioma patients. The central
hypothesis of our proposal is that multinuclear MR imaging will enable clinicians deliver precision oncology
treatments with improved outcomes tailored to individual glioma patients. We will perform three specific aims:
1) develop 1H-MRSI for intra-operative image guided surgical removal of gliomas, 2) develop 31P-MRSI at
ultra-high field to guide pharmacologic interventions in glioma, 3) clinical translation of multinuclear MRI for
treatment of glioma patients. There are strong rationales for the proposed research: 1) there is no alternative in
vivo imaging that is specific for IDH mutations, 2) MRSI is non-invasive and safe to scan without radiation and
tracer, 3) fast, 4) cost effective, 5) probes entire tumor and healthy brain without sampling bias of biopsies, 6)
can be performed pre-surgically and in inoperable patients. The approach is innovative because it employs the
first available whole-brain 2HG imaging at high resolution accelerated by deep learning compressed sensing,
novel receive-shim array hardware for 31P-MRSI to improve data quality, and automated high-throughput
pr...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10874753
- **Project number:** 5R01CA211080-07
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Ovidiu C Andronesi
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $682,470
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10874753

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10874753, Development of multinuclear MRI for image guided therapy of glioma patients (5R01CA211080-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10874753. Licensed CC0.

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