T2 detection of tumor invasion within segmented components of glioblastoma multiforme.

Purpose: To use T2-weighted images to detect tumor invasion when comparing normal individuals to groups of gliomablastoma multiforme (GBM) patients with varying levels of CXCR4, a chemokine receptor that promotes tumor migration.

Materials And Methods: T2-weighted images were acquired preoperatively in 22 treatment-naïve GBM patients. Two groups were formed based on the expression levels of CXCR4.

CXCR4 expression is elevated in glioblastoma multiforme and correlates with an increase in intensity and extent of peritumoral T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging signal abnormalities.

Objective: With the objective of investigating the utility of CXCR4, a chemokine receptor known to mediate glioma cell invasiveness, as a molecular marker for peritumoral disease extent in high-grade gliomas, we sought to characterize the expression profile of CXCR4 in a large panel of tumor samples and determine whether CXCR4 expression levels within glioblastoma multiforme might correlate with radiological evidence of a more extensive disease process.

Methods: Freshly resected tumor tissue samples were processed for immunohistochemical and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses to identify and quantify expression levels of CXCR4 and its corresponding ligand CXCL12. T1 postcontrast and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging brain scans were used to generate voxel signal intensity histograms that were quantitatively analyzed to determine the extent and intensity of peritumoral signal abnormality as a marker of disseminated disease in the brain.