Science to practice: Can we turn the undesired heating effects of MR imaging into effective cancer therapies?

Abstract

In this basic research study, Zhang et al created and report on a clever magnetic resonance (MR)-guided radiofrequency (RF) system that enables focal hyperthermic heating, targeting, and visualization for the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma. The key novelty is creating localized MR-induced heating around a metallic guidewire, which they subsequently demonstrate can be successfully combined with chemotherapy to (a) reduce cell proliferation in vitro, (b) decrease tumor growth in mouse xenografts, and (c) increase biliary uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs in swine. An added benefit of the system is using the wire as an intraluminal receiver antenna to improve the resolution of intraprocedural imaging guidance.