Imaging by Hyperpolarized 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Purpose: Most cancers exhibit high levels of aerobic glycolytic metabolism with diminished levels of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation even in the presence of normal or near-normal levels of oxygen (“Warburg effect”). However, technical challenges have limited the development of non-invasive in vivo imaging techniques for monitoring glycolytic metabolism of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and quantitatively evaluating the impact of this effect on the growth and therapy of this disease. Thus, there is a critical need to develop non-invasive techniques for longitudinal assessment of the metabolism and treatment response of patients with unresectable HCCs. Procedures: This article discusses a novel method, “Hyperpolarized 13C MRS imaging”, for achieving this objective and thus improving the prognosis of HCC patients. The primar