Jadegoud Yaligar1, Wei W. Teoh2, Swee Shean Lee1, Kanaga Sabapathy2, Philip William Kuchel1, S. Sendhil Velan1
1Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Singapore, Singapore; 2Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Center, Sinapore, Singapore, Singapore
Aflatoxin-B1 and hepatitis-B virus are the most common etiological factors associated with high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Asia. Epidemiological studies have also suggested a strong correlation between AFB1 exposure and a signature mutation on the tumor suppressor gene, p53. We have investigated the HCC model that closely mimics human HCC, induced by expression of the Hepatitis surface antigen as a transgene from the albumin promoter (HBsAg) after treatment with AFB. We performed in vivo MRI/MRS and in-vitro MAS experiments and analyzed longitudinal changes of diffusion and tissue biochemistry. We detected carnitine for the first time, to our knowledge, in HCC tumors of HBsAg mice. Therefore relatively high concentrations of carnitine may be a biomarker for the early detection of HCC.