Application of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI in the Therapeutic Evaluation of the Chinese Medicine Kanglaite in Treating Colorectal Cancer

Background Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide a reference for tumor treatment and its quantitative parameters can serve as imaging indicators that reflect tumor angiogenesis and vascularity. Kanglaite (KLT) has therapeutic effects on cancers. In this study, DCE-MRI was used to investigate its application in evaluating KLT anti-colorectal cancer. Objectives Evaluating the efficacy of Kanglaite (KLT) injection for treatment of colorectal cancer with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) parameters. Methods This study was an experimental study. The 20 successfully modeled nude mice were randomly assigned to 2 groups: blank control group (n = 10) and the KLT injection group (n = 10). The research protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the second affiliated hospital of Xinjiang medical university (protocol NO: 20140216-12) in 2015. A subcutaneous xenograft colorectal tumor model was subjected to KLT treatment. DCE-MRI obtain the parameters including Ktrans, Ve, Kep, Vp, immunohistochemical staining measure microvascular density (MVD), levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Results Compared to the blank control, the volume of tumor in the KLT group markedly reduced by 49%. 48 hours after, compared to the blank control, the Ktrans (0.028 ± 0.009 vs 0.012 ± 0.006), Ve (0.312 ± 0.089 vs 0.287 ± 0.037), and Kep values (0.321 ± 0.056 vs 0.577 ± 0.033) decreased in KLT group (P < 0.05). In contrast, the Vp value (0.094 ± 0.037 vs 0.043 ± 0.017) was significantly elevated in the KLT group (P < 0.05). There is a correlation between Ktrans, Kep and VEGF score, MVD count, and PCNA score. Conclusions The parameters of DCE-MRI may be used as imaging biomarkers for assessing the status of tumor-bearing vasculatures and provide a basis for evaluating the efficacy of anti-tumor drugs.