Abstract
Phospholipid metabolism of human breast cancer was studied by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). In vivo localised 31P MR spectra were obtained from the tumour alone using phase modulated rotating frame imaging. For 31 tumours, median (range) phosphomonoester (PME) to ATP ratio was 1.48 (0.57-3.78) and phosphodiester (PDE) to ATP ratio was 1.65 (0.44-3.89). DNA index and S phase fraction (SPF) were measured by flow cytometry of paraffin embedded tissue. Twelve (39%) tumours were diploid and 19 aneuploid. Median (range) SPF for 29 assessable tumours was 5.3% (0.6-28%), with significantly greater median SPF for aneuploid tumours (9.3%) than diploid (3.8%, P = 0.007). There was a significant association between PME/ATP and SPF (P = 0.03) due to a significant correlation for aneuploid tumours (P = 0.01). High resolution 31P MRS of extracts from 18 tumours (including seven studied in vivo) demonstrated that the PME peak consists predominantly of phosphoethanolamine (PE) with a smaller contribution from phosphocholine (PC) (median (range) PE/PC: 3.02 (1.13-5.09)). Changes in PME/ATP were observed for two tumours where tamoxifen stablized disease and may be consistent with the cytostatic effects of this drug.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kalra, R., Wade, K., Hands, L. et al. Phosphomonoester is associated with proliferation in human breast cancer: a 31P MRS study. Br J Cancer 67, 1145–1153 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1993.211
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1993.211
This article is cited by
-
Molecular magnetic resonance imaging in cancer
Journal of Translational Medicine (2015)
-
[methyl-3H]Choline incorporation into MCF7 tumour cells: correlation with proliferation
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (2005)
-
Positron emission tomographic imaging with11C-choline in differential diagnosis of head and neck tumors: comparison with18F-FDG PET
Annals of Nuclear Medicine (2004)
-
Breast cancer angiogenesis — new approaches to therapy via antiangiogenesis, hypoxic activated drugs, and vascular targeting
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (1996)