SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY IN TUMOR PERFUSION MEASURED WITH FUNCTIONAL COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY AT 0.05-MU-L RESOLUTION

High speed (200 ms temporal resolution) functional computed tomography was used to demonstrate tumor vascular heterogeneity with 0.05 mu l s patial resolution. Vascular topologies were investigated in 2 human sn ail cen lung cancer lines implanted either s.c. or as a tissue isolate d preparation in immunocompromised mice. Peripheral versus central vas cular topology was identified in the s.c. and tissue-isolated preparat ions, respectively. Pharmacokinetic analysis demonstrated that tumor p hysiology was influenced by cell line (P = 0.016) and not by location (P > 0.6). This sew technique has the potential to characterize indivi dual tumors in patients with minimal invasiveness, permitting more det ailed prognosis and management.