Assessing tumor cell death in vivo using 2H-labeled fumarate and deuterium magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging

Monitoring tumor responses to treatment using metabolic imaging can give an early indication of outcome. We show here that Deuterium Metabolic Imaging (DMI) with ²H-labelled fumarate can be used to detect early evidence of cell death following drug treatment in a pre-clinical murine lymphoma model. ²H spectra were acquired from tumors with a time resolution of 5 min, following a bolus injection of ²H-labelled fumarate. Within 48 h of etoposide treatment the rate of tumor malate production from the labelled fumarate increased significantly. Increased levels of labelled malate were also evident in spectroscopic images of the tumors.