Metabolic characterization of human prostate cancer with tissue magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Diagnostic advancements for prostate cancer have so greatly increased early detections that hope abounds for improved patient outcomes. However, histopathology, which guides treatment, often subcategorizes aggressiveness insufficiently among moderately differentiated Gleason score (6 and 7) tumors (>70% of new cases). Here, we test the diagnostic capability of prostate metabolite profiles measured with intact tissue magnetic resonance spectroscopy and the sensitivity of local prostate metabolites in predicting prostate cancer status. Prostate tissue samples (n = 199) obtained from 82 prostate cancer patients after prostatectomy were analyzed with high-resolution magic angle spinning proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and afterwards with quantitative pathology. Metabolite profiles obtained from principal component analysis of magnetic resonance spectroscopy were correlated with pathologic quantitative findings by using linear regression analysis and evaluated against patient pathologic statuses by using ANOVA. Paired t tests show that tissue metabolite profiles can differentiate malignant from benign samples obtained from the same patient (P < 0.005) and correlate with patient serum prostate-specific antigen levels (P < 0.006). Furthermore, metabolite profiles obtained from histologically benign tissue samples of Gleason score 6 and 7 prostates can delineate a subset of less aggressive tumors (P < 0.008) and predict tumor perineural invasion within the subset (P < 0.03). These results indicate that magnetic resonance spectroscopy metabolite profiles of biopsy tissues may help direct treatment plans by assessing prostate cancer pathologic stage and aggressiveness, which at present can be histopathologically determined only after prostatectomy.