Twenty patients were examined, each with five multi-parameter magnetic resonance imaging scans: two scans before the commencement of androgen suppression, one scan after 1 month of hormone treatment, and two further scans after 3 months of therapy. Quantitative parametric maps of the prostate informing on relative blood flow (rBF), relative blood volume (rBV), vascular permeability (transfer constant [Ktrans]), leakage space (ve) and blood oxygenation (intrinsic relaxivity [R2*]) were calculated.
Tumor blood volume and blood flow decreased by 83 % and 79 % , respectively, in the first month (p < 0.0001), with 74 % of patients showing significant changes. The proportion of individual patients who achieved significant changes in T1 kinetic parameter values after 3 months of androgen deprivation for tumor measurements was 68 % for Ktrans and 53 % for ve By 3 months, significant increases in R2* had occurred in prostate tumor, with a rise of 41.1 % (p < 0.0001).
Androgen deprivation induces profound vascular collapse within 1 month of starting treatment. Increased R2* in regions of prostate cancer and a decrease in blood volume suggest a reduction in tumor oxygenation.