Objectives: This study aimed to study magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAs) induced by N-nitrosobis (2-oxopropyl) amine (BOP) in Syrian hamsters.
Methods: A total of 101 female hamsters, 8 weeks old, were randomized into 3 groups. They were randomized into a BOP-treated group (n = 80; with weekly subcutaneous injections of BOP [10 mg/kg body weight] for 7 consecutive weeks), a saline-treated group (n = 16), and an untreated group (n = 5). Hamsters underwent abdominal MRI on 1.5-T MR scanners with a dedicated animal radiofrequency coil. Findings of the tumor from the MRI were compared those from histology.
Results: Pancreata in the saline-treated and in the untreated groups were normal. In the BOP-treated group, there were 23 and 31 BOP-induced PDAs on macroscopy and microscopy, respectively. Of the PDAs detected on macroscopy, 65.2% were depicted on MRI. As early as 13 and 19 weeks after the first injection of BOP, PDAs in hamsters were found on histology and MRI, respectively. Moreover, the tumor volume on MRI was correlated with the tumor weights excised (r = 0.96, P = 0.000, n = 15).
Conclusions: N-nitrosobis (2-oxopropyl) amine successfully induced PDAs in hamsters. Magnetic resonance imaging has the ability to detect healthy pancreas and PDAs in hamsters and has the potential to monitor the development of PDAs.