Quantitative MRI for Myelofibrosis

This study is for the development and validation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters as biomarkers for analyzing extent of disease and quantifying response to treatment in patients with myelofibrosis. Quantitative MRI parameters for diffusion of water and/or fat content in bone marrow will determine extent of disease in patients with myelofibrosis, and changes in these parameters will predict response to therapy. To investigate this hypothesis, the researchers will perform this pilot clinical study of diffusion and fat content (T1 weighted imaging) in patients before and during treatment for myelofibrosis. The researchers expect to identify MRI parameters that determine the extent and severity of bone marrow disease in these patients and determine response to therapy at earlier time points than currently used clinical parameters. This research will lay the foundation for larger clinical trials using MRI to assess and predict effects of existing and new therapeutic agents for patients with myelofibrosis.

This study proposes that more advanced MRI techniques currently used in clinical medicine can be applied to enable response to therapy to be determined earlier than currently is possible for patients with myelofibrosis. In particular, this study is designed to determine to what extent abnormalities in diffusion of water molecules (diffusion MRI) and/or fat content in bone marrow (T1-weighted imaging) define extent of initial disease and serve as early predictors of response to therapy.