The Potential Use of BOLD MRI as a Noninvasive Measure of Tumor Hypoxia in Prostate Cancer

Hypoxia (low oxygen level) is know to be present in many tumors and may strongly influence the success of treatment and the progression of disease in prostate cancer. The method used to measure tumor oxygen levels in prostate cancer is to place a needle in the prostate itself through the rectum. Blood oxygen level dependent imaging (BOLD MRI) is a special MRI technique that allows indirect assessment of oxygen levels in blood. This technique is non-invasive, involving no needles. BOLD has not been applied in humans in prostate cancer. The purpose of this study is to develop a MRI-BOLD technique that allows us to non-invasively measure changes related to tumor hypoxia in prostate cancer. This technique may provide information that will be an independent predictor of patient survival, tumor recurrence and likelihood of treatment response in prostate cancer