[H-NMR spectroscopy of plasma cannot be used for cancer screening]

Water-suppressed proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra were generated from plasma taken from 25 apparently healthy individuals, 103 patients with malignancies and 32 patients with benign thyroid tumors. Narrow linewidths from the lipoprotein methylene and methyl resonances were observed in only 61% of the patients with malignant tumors and in contrast to the results of Fossel et al., there was a considerable overlap of values between patients with and without malignant tumors. We studied the area of the CH2 and CH3 signals which was significantly increased in 83% of the patients with overt malignant disease. However this was also found in 20% of healthy subjects and in 47% of those with benign thyroid tumor. Lipoproteins (VLDL and chylomicrons) can reproduce these modifications. The present data suggest that considerable caution should be taken in interpreting water-suppressed proton NMR spectra for cancer detection.