# Improving Image-Guided Radiation Therapy of Gliomas with High-Resolution MR Spectroscopic Imaging

> **NIH NIH R01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $530,471

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Glioma make up 80% of all primary malignant brain tumors. The current standard treatment for newly diagnosed
gliomas includes maximal surgical resection, radiation therapy (RT), and chemotherapy. A key technical
challenge in RT treatment planning is accurate target volume delineation of gliomas. The current clinical
guidelines for target volume delineation rely primarily on structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images.
Gross Tumor Volume (GTV) is defined based on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRI and T2-weighted MRI.
However, structural MRI alone lacks specificity for delineation of true tumor boundaries. Accordingly, Clinical
Target Volume (CTV) is often defined as the GTV plus a large margin (e.g., 20-25 mm) to account for possible
microscopic infiltration. The lack of specificity of structural MRI is a critical factor limiting the investigation and
clinical application of new RT techniques for better clinical outcome. MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has long
been recognized as a potentially powerful tool for label-free molecular imaging of brain tumor. In a recent Phase
I clinical trial, MRSI is used to guide dose escalation in RT for Glioblastoma multiforme patients, showing very
promising preliminary results. Although general clinical applications of MRSI have been impeded by its limited
spatial resolution and long scan time, significant progresses have been made in addressing these technical
challenges over the past decade using advanced data acquisition and processing methods. Our group have
successfully developed a powerful MRSI technology, known as SPICE (SPectroscopic Imaging by exploiting
spatiospectral CorrElation). SPICE effectively integrates rapid scanning, sparse sampling, quantum simulation
of molecule resonance structures, and machine learning to enable rapid high-resolution MRSI. Preliminary
results by our and other groups have shown an exciting potential of SPICE to achieve an unprecedented
combination of resolution, speed, and SNR for metabolic imaging. We have also demonstrated, for the first time,
the feasibility of mapping T1, T2 and proton-density parameters of brain tissues using the unsuppressed water
signals from the SPICE scans. The primary goal of this project is to leverage this significant advance in MRSI
technology and investigate the use of high-resolution metabolic and structural information to achieve more
accurate target volume delineation for RT treatment planning of gliomas. We will: 1) further develop and optimize
SPICE for MRI/MRSI-guided RT of gliomas in clinical settings, 2) perform systematic performance evaluation of
the proposed method on phantoms, healthy subjects, and glioma patients, and 3) investigate the use of metabolic
and structural biomarkers for delineation of biological target volume to improve image-guided RT of gliomas. The
proposed research is innovative in developing a novel molecular imaging technology and a timely effort on
improving RT treatment planning of gliomas wit...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10897779
- **Project number:** 7R01EB033582-03
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Chao Ma
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $530,471
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2022-09-30 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10897779

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10897779, Improving Image-Guided Radiation Therapy of Gliomas with High-Resolution MR Spectroscopic Imaging (7R01EB033582-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10897779. Licensed CC0.

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