H-1-MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY - A NEW TECHNIQUE TO DISCRIMINATEBENIGN FROM MALIGNANT OVARIAN-TUMORS

BACKGROUND, Currently used techniques such as ultrasound, computed tom ography and magnetic resonance imaging are not fully capable of differ entiating benign from malignant ovarian tumors. Magnetic resonance spe ctroscopy (MRS) may help solve this clinical problem by analyzing the composition of fluid from ovarian cysts. METHODS, The authors studied fluid samples from 28 different ovarian cysts. Nine patients were foun d to have a malignant ovarian tumor whereas 19 patients had benign cys ts. Single pulse H-1-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectra were obtained in all fluid samples. RESULTS, Compared with the group of benign epith elial cysts (n = 17) the 8 malignant epithelial ovarian cysts had sign ificantly higher levels of lactate, isoleucine, valine, 3-hydroxybutyr ic acid, methionine, and alanine (P < 0.05). In two benign cysts (endo metrioma and mature teratoma) surprisingly high levels were found for a large number of compounds. Values were as high as 100-fold the value s in fluid from benign cysts. CONCLUSIONS, H-1-NMR spectroscopy demons trates significant differences in metabolite concentration between ben ign and malignant ovarian cysts, This ultimately may lead to the nonin vasive differential diagnosis of ovarian tumors by in vivo MRS. (C) 19 98 American Cancer Society.