Advances in Diffusion and Perfusion MRI for Quantitative Cancer Imaging

Purpose of Review This article is to review recent technical developments and their clinical applications in cancer imaging quantitative measurement of cellular and vascular properties of the tumors. Recent Findings Rapid development of fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies over the last decade brought new opportunities in quantitative MRI methods to measure both cellular and vascular properties of tumors simultaneously. Diffusion MRI (dMRI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI have become widely used to assess the tissue structural and vascular properties, respectively. However, the ultimate potential of these advanced imaging modalities has not been fully exploited. The dependency of dMRI on the diffusion weighting gradient strength and diffusion time can be utilized to measure tumor perfusion, cellular structure, and cellular membrane permeability. Similarly, DCE-MRI can be used to measure vascular and cellular membrane permeability along with cellular compartment volume fractions. To facilitate the understanding of these potentially important methods for quantitative cancer imaging, we discuss the basic concepts and recent developments, as well as future directions for further development.