Detecting Response of Metastatic Prostate Cancer to Chemotherapy in PDX Models using Hyperpolarized 13C MRI

Motivation: Diagnosis and treatment assessment of aggressive small cell neuroendocrine prostate cancer (SCNC) is challenging due to its admixture presence in conjunction with adenocarcinoma phenotype and differential response to treatments subjective to the metastatic sites. Goal(s): This study aims to assess the therapeutic efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy in preclinical SCNC metastatic models using patient derived xenografts. Approach: Hyperpolarized 13C MRI was used to measure the apparent rate of change in glycolysis (kPL) in PDX models of SCNC in metastatic sites. Results: kPL values clearly demonstrated a decrease upon treatment concordant to the change in tumor volume in both the liver and bone metastatic models. Impact: kPL, measured by hyperpolarized MRI, can be used to assess treatment efficacy yielding a non-invasive, potentially early biomarker readily translatable for use in patients with metastatic tumors for optimal therapeutic approaches.