New MRI Technique Uses Spoonful of Sugar to Detect Cancer

A new technique to detect cancer by imaging the consumption of sugar with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been uncovered by a team of scientists from University College London, reports MedicalXpress.

This new finding offers an easier and a safer alternative to the current method of diagnosing cancers and tumors. The current methods have certain limitation as they cannot be used on pregnant women or young children due to the health risks involved with the use of radioactive imaging.  The novel technique breaks these barriers, said UCL's Professor Xavier Golay, the  senior author of the study.

Referred to as 'glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer' (glucoCEST), the novel technique is based on the fact that the intake of glucose by malignant tumors is more when compared to normal healthy tissues. The tumors need more glucose to grow .

On consuming glucose they noticed micro-fluctuations in magnetic energy of the cells. Based on this technique they were able to differentiate between two types of colon cancer  in mice.

A MRI of the glucose consumption in mice showed the tumors as bright images.

 Professor Mark Lythgoe, Director of CABI and a senior author on the study, said, "We can detect cancer using the same sugar content found in half a standard sized chocolate bar. Our research reveals a useful and cost-effective method for imaging cancers using MRI - a standard imaging technology available in many large hospitals."

Lead researcher Dr Simon Walker-Samuel, from the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging (CABI) said, "We have developed a new state-of-the-art imaging technique to visualize and map the location of tumors that will hopefully enable us to assess the efficacy of novel cancer therapies."

The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.