Metabolic changes underlying 31P MR spectral alterations in human hepatic tumours

✍ Scribed by J. D. Bell; K. K. Bhakoo

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 80 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0952-3480
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1492(1998110)11:7<354::aid-nbm515>3.0.co;2-n

✦ Synopsis

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) remains the technique of choice for observing tumour metabolism non-invasively. Although initially 31 P MR spectroscopy showed much promise as a non-invasive diagnostic tool, studies of a wide range of hepatic tumours have conclusively shown that this technique cannot be utilized to distinguish between different tumour types. This lack of specificity and sensitivity appears to be a consequence of the fact that hepatic tumours develop with a range of modalities and not as a single abnormal disease process, and also because of the limited availability of MR detectable metabolic markers. This has led, in recent years, to a re-evaluation of the role of 31 P MR spectroscopy, re-emerging as a non-invasive tool to follow the efficacy of the treatment regime. Furthermore, since the principal changes observed in tumours by 31 P MRS appear to be an elevation in the concentration of phosphorylcholine (PCho) and phosphoethanolamine (PEth), new research using a combination of MRS and tissue culture of cell lines which carry a combination of known inducible oncogenes, are helping to elucidate some of the metabolic pathways that give rise to these metabolic alterations.