Detecting Response to Treatment in Human Breast Adenocarcinoma Using a Co-Administration of Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate and [1,4-13C2]fumarate

Timothy H. Witney^1,2, Mikko I. Kettunen^1,2, De-en Hu^1,2, Ferdia A. Gallagher^1,2, Kevin M. Brindle^1,2

In the current study, we used a co-administration of hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]pyruvate and [1,4-¹³C₂]fumarate as a sensitive marker of cell death in a model of human breast adenocarcinoma following treatment with a DNA damaging agent. The results show that a decrease in pyruvate - lactate exchange coincides with the induction of cell death in breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, with an increase in fumarate - malate exchange shown to correlate to the onset of necrosis.