In vivo and ex vivo proton MR spectroscopy of primary and secondary melanoma

Bourne, Roger M.; Stanwell, Peter; Stretch, Jonathan R.; Scolyer, Richard A.; Thompson, John F.; Mountford, Carolyn E.; Lean, Cynthia L.

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2004.03.016

Next »European Journal of Radiology
Volume 53, Issue 3 , Pages 506-513, March 2005

In vivo and ex vivo proton MR spectroscopy of primary and secondary melanoma

Roger M. Bourne
- Institute for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, University of Sydney, Block 3, Level 3, Royal North Shore Hospital, St. Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
Peter Stanwell
- Institute for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, University of Sydney, Block 3, Level 3, Royal North Shore Hospital, St. Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
Jonathan R. Stretch
- Sydney Melanoma Unit and Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Richard A. Scolyer
- Sydney Melanoma Unit and Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
John F. Thompson
- Sydney Melanoma Unit and Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Carolyn E. Mountford
- Institute for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, University of Sydney, Block 3, Level 3, Royal North Shore Hospital, St. Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
Cynthia L. Lean
- Institute for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, University of Sydney, Block 3, Level 3, Royal North Shore Hospital, St. Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-2-9926-6073; fax: +61-2-9926-6549.

Received 4 September 2003; received in revised form 29 March 2004; accepted 31 March 2004.

Abstract

In vivo magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy at 1.5T was performed on a large polypoid cutaneous melanoma, and two enlarged lymph nodes containing metastatic melanoma, from three patients. Spectra were acquired in vivo from voxels wholly within the primary tumour or secondary lymph node and were thus uncontaminated by signals from adjacent tissue. Tissue biopsies taken after resection of primary tumours and secondary lymph nodes were examined by 8.5T magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and the results compared with the in vivo spectra, and with spectra from normal skin and a benign skin lesion. There was good agreement between the dominant features of 1.5T spectra acquired in vivo and 8.5T spectra acquired from resected tissue. However, less intense resonances observed at 8.5T in malignant biopsy tissue were not consistently observed at 1.5T in vivo. In vivo spectra from primary and metastatic melanoma showed high levels of choline metabolites. An intense lactate resonance was also present in the in vivo spectrum of primary melanoma. All 8.5T spectra of biopsies from primary and secondary melanoma showed high levels of choline metabolites and lactate, and additional resonances consistent with elevated levels of taurine, alanine, lysine, and glutamate/glutamine relative to normal and benign tissue. Elevated levels of choline, lactate, taurine, and amino acids appear to be clinically useful markers for identifying the pathology of primary and metastatic melanoma.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Melanoma, Cancer, Lymph nodes, Skin, Metastases