Cervical cancer tissue characterized by high-resolution magic angle spinning MR spectroscopy

In recent years, high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR MAS) has provided the opportunity to explore detailed biochemical composition of intact tissue. Previous studies of intact cervical biopsies with high-resolution magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) have correlated well with histopathology. Lactate level in cervical cancer tissue has been found to correlate to metastatic spread. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of the HR MAS technique as a tool for chemical characterization of cervical cancer tissue.

Tissue samples from the cervix were collected after hysterectomy from patients with cervical cancer (n=8) and patients with nonmalignant disease (n=8). The tissue specimens were analyzed using HR MAS MR spectroscopy combined with principal component analysis (PCA).

The resulting spectra showed resolution comparable with high-resolution MR spectra of extracts. Multivariate analysis confirmed that MAS spectra classified according to patient diagnosis.

Malignant tissue of the cervix differed from nonmalignant tissue with regard to higher levels of cholines and amino acid residues and lower levels of glucose.