Monitoring early tumor response to vascular targeted therapy using super-resolution ultrasound imaging

Abstract

The standard-of-care for evaluating breast tumor response to chemotherapeutic drug treatment remains the assessment of a tumor size change weeks after therapy begins. However, the tumor microenvironment is known to change drastically before any detectable change in physical size manifests. New clinical tools that can help determine early tumor response are urgently needed so we can both maximize the benefit of an effective therapeutic strategy and minimize the use of drugs that do not improve patient prognosis. To that end, the goal of this research project was to evaluate the utility of super-resolution ultrasound (SR-US) imaging for detecting the early tumor response (or lack thereof) to antiangiogenic-targeted therapy.