ABSTRACT
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a noninvasive and nondestructive technique, which is inherently low sensitive. Magnetic resonance imaging is widely used in clinical applications because its low sensitivity is compensated for by the high concentration of water in the human body. A major challenge in cancer biology is to monitor and understand cancer metabolism in vivo with the aim of improving diagnosis and possibly therapy. A major issue involving hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy is the relatively short duration of polarization. Injection of hyperpolarized 13C bicarbonate is one of the NMR techniques for imaging pH. This method, which exploits pH-dependent chemical shift, results in the rapid production of hyperpolarized 13CO2 in the reaction catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase. Glucose imaging could also be useful in the diagnosis and characterization of cancer in vivo. Glutamine plays a central role in tumor metabolism. Accordingly, glutaminolysis is considered as a hallmark of tumor cell metabolism.
