19F MRI Tracking of Inflammation for Earlier Prediction of Colitis-Associated Cancer

Abstract

Colitis-associated cancer (CAC) develops through complication of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Currently, CACs can only be diagnosed by colonoscopy and biopsy, which are invasive and prone to sampling errors. In this study, the feasibility of using 19F MRI for earlier diagnosis of CAC development was investigated by serial imaging of inflammatory sites in the colon. In vivo MR imaging of CAC-induced mice showed patchy distributions of 19F signals on colon wall, and co-localization of 19F signal patches with dysplastic and inflammatory lesions were confirmed by ex vivo imaging. Histological scores of inflammation and dysplasia showed significant correlation with the intensity of 19F signals. Overall, 19F MRI was used for the first time to observe the early stage of carcinomatous change of inflammatory sites in the colon, which is expected to enable earlier diagnosis of CAC. Thewell established relationship between inflammation and cancer suggests that 19F MRI can also be used in early diagnosis of wide range of cancer types.