Hyperpolarized C-Pyruvate Metabolism as a Surrogate for Tumor Grade and Poor Outcome in Renal Cell Carcinoma-A Proof of Principle Study.

Differentiating aggressive clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) from indolent lesions is challenging using conventional imaging. This work prospectively compared the metabolic imaging phenotype of renal tumors using carbon-13 MRI following injection of hyperpolarized [1-C]pyruvate (HP-C-MRI) and validated these findings with histopathology. Nine patients with treatment-naïve renal tumors (6 ccRCCs, 1 liposarcoma, 1 pheochromocytoma, 1 oncocytoma) underwent pre-operative HP-C-MRI and conventional proton (H) MRI.

Hyperpolarized Carbon-13 MRI for Early Response Assessment of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients.

Hyperpolarized C-MRI is an emerging tool for probing tissue metabolism by measuring C-label exchange between intravenously injected hyperpolarized [1-C]pyruvate and endogenous tissue lactate. Here, we demonstrate that hyperpolarized C-MRI can be used to detect early response to neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer. Seven patients underwent multiparametric H-MRI and hyperpolarized C-MRI before and 7-11 days after commencing treatment.

Comprehensive characterization of cell-free tumor DNA in plasma and urine of patients with renal tumors.

Background: Cell-free tumor-derived DNA (ctDNA) allows non-invasive monitoring of cancers, but its utility in renal cell cancer (RCC) has not been established.

Methods: Here, a combination of untargeted and targeted sequencing methods, applied to two independent cohorts of patients (n = 91) with various renal tumor subtypes, were used to determine ctDNA content in plasma and urine.

Results: Our data revealed lower plasma ctDNA levels in RCC relative to other cancers of similar size and stage, with untargeted detection in 27.