Abstract #0119

Swanson M, Nelson S, Vigneron D, Joun D, Butler T, Santos C, Kurhanewicz J

Combined HR-MAS and gene expression studies of 16 human prostate biopsy samples (n=10 healthy, n=6 Gleason 3+3 cancers) demonstrated that the relatively higher levels of choline and lower levels of phosphocholine observed in the proton spectra of prostate cancer relative to breast cancer may be due to differences in the expression of several key Kennedy cycle enzymes that would lead to increased choline rather than phosphocholine. Specifically, choline kinase was not over-expressed while phospholipase D was over-expressed in prostate cancer, in contrast to breast cancer where choline kinase and phospholipase C were both over-expressed.