ENHANCED RESOLUTION OF PROTON NMR-SPECTRA OF MALIGNANT LYMPH-NODES USING MAGIC-ANGLE-SPINNING

Proton NMR spectroscopy has proven useful in the detection of cancer i n lymph node tissue, However, due to the high fat content of this type of tissue, 2D H-1 COSY measurements (requiring acquisition times of 4 -5 h or longer) are necessary to obtain the spectral information neces sary for diagnosis. T-2-filtered proton magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy provides 1D spectra of lymph nodes in approximately 20 m in with sufficient spectral resolution allowing for identification of changes in cellular chemistry due to the presence of malignant cells. MAS data from lymph nodes of five control and six rats with mammary ad enocarcinoma (R13762) demonstrated increases in the signal intensity o f resonances associated primarily with lactate (delta = 4.12 ppm) P < 0.0004, creatines/lysine (delta = 3.04 ppm) P < 0.0032, and glutamate/ glutamine (delta = 2.36 ppm) P < 0.0002 in metastatic compared with no rmal lymph nodes. The infiltration of lymph nodes by malignant cells i s an important prognostic factor for many cancers. The rapid assessmen t of node tissue without the introduction of sampling errors (inherent in currently employed histological procedures) would allow postoperat ive therapy decisions to be made more efficiently.