Characterizing Metabolic Heterogeneity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Hyperpolarized C Pyruvate MRI and Mass Spectrometry.

Purpose To characterize the metabolomic profiles of two hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) rat models, track evolution of these profiles to a stimulated tumor state, and assess their effect on lactate flux with hyperpolarized (HP) carbon 13 (C) MRI. Materials and Methods Forty-three female adult Fischer rats were implanted with N1S1 or McA-RH7777 HCC tumors. In vivo lactate-to-pyruvate ratio (LPR) was measured with HP C MRI at 9.