TSPO-PET and diffusion-weighted MRI for imaging a mouse model of infiltrative human glioma.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most devastating brain tumor. Despite the use of multimodal treatments, most patients relapse, often due to the highly invasive nature of gliomas. However, the detection of glioma infiltration remains challenging.

Combined PET Imaging of the Inflammatory Tumor Microenvironment Identifies Margins of Unique Radiotracer Uptake.

The tumor microenvironment is highly heterogeneous. For gliomas, the tumor-associated inflammatory response is pivotal to support growth and invasion. Factors of glioma growth, inflammation, and invasion, such as the translocator protein (TSPO) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), may serve as specific imaging biomarkers of the glioma microenvironment.