Evaluation of anti-vascular therapy with texture analysis.

BACKGROUND Texture analysis can be used to identify and discriminate between objects in an image and has already been used for the characterization of diseases. The present study evaluated the potential of texture analysis for monitoring tumor cell viability during treatment with an anti-vascular drug. MATERIALS AND METHODS Texture analysis of T2-weighted magnetic resonance images of C3H mammary carcinomas in mice was used to study tumor cell viability during treatment with the anti-vascular drug combretastatin A-4 disodium phosphate (CA4DP). Texture analysis was done by MaZda, and boot strap statistics were used to analyze the results. RESULTS The results revealed significant differences in the textures of T2-weighted images when non-tumor tissue and tumor tissue were compared. Furthermore, selected texture parameters were significantly different when image data from before and after CA4DP administration were analyzed. CONCLUSION Texture analysis is helpful in the diagnosis of different types of tissues, especially when these tissues can not be recognized by human observers. Some functional changes, such as perfusion changes in the tumor, can also be detected by texture analysis.