What is it about?
This study showed that imaging lactate in tumors with hyperpolarized MRI and spatial metabolomics could identify prostate cancer patients susceptible to biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy in a prospective study involving 21 participants. The results suggest that this method could be developed to better inform prostate cancer treatment decision-making, particularly for patients with intermediate-risk cancers.
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Why is it important?
This is the first study linking clinical hyperpolarized MRI data with treatment outcomes, which is an important step toward clinical validation of this nascent technique. Albeit indirectly, this study is also the first to correlate MRI-derived lactate imaging with tissue-based spatial metabolomics, showing increased tumor epithelial lactate in patients who suffered surgical failure. These results pave the way for future multicenter validation of these results, thereby facilitating clinical translation of metabolic imaging to improve patient care and outcomes.
Perspectives
This article is important because it sets another example of a successful academia-industry partnership, which we hope to develop moving forward. Combining different skills, resources, and expertise to advance translational research is the only true way forward, and I hope this article sets a good example of this.
Nikita Sushentsev
University of Cambridge
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Imaging tumor lactate is feasible for identifying intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients with postsurgical biochemical recurrence, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2312261120.
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