Tumor Imaging Metrics
Tumor Imaging Metrics Core (TIMC) is a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary imaging core lab that provides and facilitates multimodality imaging measurements to evaluate treatment response in patients enrolled in oncology clinical trials. TIMC promotes the advancement of knowledge and educational efforts in tumor imaging metrics and enhances the efficiency and quality of clinical trials for radiologists, oncologists, and trial sponsors.
The vision of the Core is to bring world-class imaging metrics to DF/HCC investigators, other cancer centers and clinical imaging centers anywhere in the world, develop cutting-edge imaging analysis and informatics technologies, advance knowledge in tumor imaging metrics through education and research, and translate this expertise into routine clinical practice.
TIMC provides standardized, consistent, longitudinal, multimodality radiological measurements to evaluate therapeutic response for patients enrolled in DF/HCC clinical trials. Services include accurate, consistent, and timely analysis of CT, MR, PET/CT imaging studies as well as other imaging modalities. Measurements available include linear measures (RECIST, WHO, Cheson, irRC, PCWG2, RANO), volumetric measures for CT or MR scans, and Standardized Uptake Values (SUVs) for PET scans. Results of analyses are offered on a password-protected secure web-based report. The Core offers an independent service with verifiable measurement of treatment response for patients enrolled in clinical trials and serves as a centralized, computerized resource to facilitate efficient internal or external auditing.
Key Services
- Consultation services for image-based protocol and image analysis design
- Image capture and management of multimodality scans from all DF/HCC institutions
- Tumor measurements from scans of patients on clinical trials according to trial protocol
- Web-based reporting of results with annotated images and results summary
- Database management of radiological data for clinical trials
Providing Continued High Quality Service
The primary focus of the TIMC is to provide high-quality tumor metrics imaging services for oncology clinical trials at DF/HCC and beyond. Over the last seventeen years the TIMC has increased service offerings as seen in the figure below and have:
- Processed over 10,000 scans
- Managed measurements for over 1,400 clinical trials
- Provided services to 26 institutions
The TIMC data and image management has also evolved over the years as the core’s service and expertise have grown. The TIMC development team has expanded the capabilities of the system based on user feedback and has continuously implemented solutions into the TIMC website and imaging tools.
The TIMC team strives to stay at the front line of clinical research trends. The core directors, imaging analysts, and support staff participate in and study the new assessment criteria as they are developed and implemented, contribute to and publish academic manuscripts, and participate in various national and international scientific meetings. Our focused dedication to learning and research help us stay at the forefront of clinical trial needs.
Sharing our Experience
TIMC works with outside Cancer Centers in an effort to share experience, knowledge and workflow. Through academic software licensing agreements, our web-based imaging informatics and workflow management platform developed through TIMC to provide imaging assessments for oncology clinical trials, Precision Imaging Metrics (www.precisionmetrics.org) is now used by eight NCI-designated Cancer Centers around the U.S. By making this platform available as a shared resource, the Core provides analysis tools and support to collaborating sites in an effort to create a trans-Cancer Center clinical trials imaging research community.
PUBLICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
If research supported by this core facility results in publication, please acknowledge this support by including the following in your publication(s):
"We thank Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston, MA, for the use of the Tumor Imaging Metrics Core, which provided __________ service. Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center is supported in part by an NCI Cancer Center Support Grant # NIH 5 P30 CA06516."
Location
The Tumor Imaging Metrics Core (TIMC) maintains laboratory space at three medical institutions:
Massachusetts General Hospital, 3D Imaging Service
25 New Chardon Street
Boston, MA 02114
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Imaging, Dana Building
450 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Brigham and Women's Hospital, 3D and Image Processing Center
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115