WEEKEND EDUCATIONAL COURSE
Probing Cancer With MR II: From Animal Models To Clinical Assessment

Organizers: Anwar R Padhani , MRCP, FRCR, Martin O Leach, Ph.D.
Skill Level: Basic- Intermediate

Sunday, 4 May 2008

Overview:

In recent years it has become clear that functional MRI techniques may be able to address may of the bottlenecks in cancer patient diagnosis and management. The progress made by leading MRI techniques in the transition to clinical practice varies, but important lessons on their potential uses and limitations are known and will be discussed in this one-day course. The need to develop biomarkers that are relevant to clinical care pathways and ability to combine morphological and multiple functional assessments in comprehensive evaluation paradigms will be stressed. 

Educational Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

  • Describe current care pathways and current challenges in clinical diagnosis and management;
  • Explain why cellular proliferation, hypoxia and angiogenesis are key biological markers of the aggressive cancer phenotype;
  • Describe the biological basis and evidence for MRI biomarkers that are ready for clinical translation;
  • List methods for predictive biomarker qualification; and
  • Integrate multi-parametric, multispectral imaging information using bioinformatics techniques.

    • Audience Description: 

    This course is designed for an audience ranging from clinical scientists to radiologists in practice who are developing or using biomarkers in practice or research. It should include Ph.D. students undertaking cancer related projects using MRI, and practicing radiologists and technologists who use functional imaging to further their understanding of cancer biology for the purpose of advancing the delivery of cancer care.  The course will also be of interest to allied scientists, including representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, who are increasingly using MRI biomarkers for drug development.

         
    08:30 What It Means to Have Cancer: the Patient Pathway Shih-chang Wang, M.D.
    09:00 Imaging in Drug Development (RECIST and Well Beyond) Andrzej Dzik-Jurasz , M.D., Ph.D.
    09:30 Molecular and Metabolic Markers of Cancer as Viewed by MRS and Molecular MRI Hadassa Degani, Ph.D.
    10:00 Break  
    10:00 - 10:15 Meet the Teachers  
         
    10:30 Clinical Applications of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Kristen Zakian, Ph.D.
    11:00 Extracting Physiological Vascular Information Using Contrast Agents Thomas E. Yankeelov, Ph.D.
    11:30 Assessing Anti-Vascular and Anti-Angiogenic Therapies Susan M. Galbraith
    12:00 Break  
    12:00 - 12:15 Meet the Teachers  
         
    13:30 Preclinical Assessments of Tumor Oxygenation Simon P. Robinson, Ph.D.
    14:00 Clinical Assessments of Tumor Hypoxia Catharine West, Ph.D.
    14:30 Computational Biology and Bioinformatics of Multi-Parametric Imaging Joel Saltz
    15:00 Break  
    15:00 - 15:15 Meet the Teachers  
         
    15:30 Diffusion MRI: Principles & Data Analyses Thomas L. Chenevert, Ph.D.
    16:00 Apoptosis: MR Consequences Risto A. Kauppinen, M.D. , Ph.D.
    16:30 Diffusion MRI: Utility in Cancer Management Dow-Mu Koh, M.D.
    17:00 Framework for Clinical Predictive Biomarker Qualification Anwar R. Padhani, MRCP, FRCR
    17:30 Adjournment  
    17:30 - 17:45 Meet the Teachers