Quantification of Tumor Vascularity with Contrast-Enhanced Sonography: Correlation with Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Fluorodeoxyglucose Autoradiography in an Implanted Tumor

Objective. To correlate the quantitated tumor vascularity of implanted murine tumors as depicted by contrast-enhanced sonography with estimates made with magnetic resonance imaging and with estimates of the percentage of viable (metabolically active) tumor as depicted by fluorodeoxyglucose autoradiography. Methods. Implanted tumors in 10 mice were imaged with contrast-enhanced sonography, magnetic resonance imaging, and fluorodeoxyglucose autoradiography. Tumor vascularity was estimated with each modality and compared with the percentage of viable tumor. Results. Quantitated estimates of tumor vascularity with contrast-enhanced sonography closely correlated (r = 0.95) with estimates made by magnetic resonance imaging and with the percentage of viable tumor (r = 0.93) as depicted by fluorodeoxyglucose autoradiography. Conclusions. Contrast-enhanced sonography accurately depicts tumor vascularity in these implanted tumors. Tumor vascularity correlated with the amount of metabolically active tumor.