Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging (CNR) c/o Molecular Biotechnologies Center, Torino, Italy.
Molecular Imaging Center, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
Cancer Res. 2016 Nov 15;76(22):6463-6470. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-0825. Epub 2016 Sep 20.
The vast majority of cancers exhibit increased glucose uptake and glycolysis regardless of oxygen availability. This metabolic shift leads to an enhanced production of lactic acid that decreases extracellular pH (pHe), a hallmark of the tumor microenvironment. In this way, dysregulated tumor pHe and upregulated glucose metabolism are linked tightly and their relative assessment may be useful to gain understanding of the underlying biology. Here we investigated noninvasively the in vivo correlation between tumor F-FDG uptake and extracellular pH values in a murine model of HER2 breast cancer. Tumor extracellular pH and perfusion were assessed by acquiring MRI-CEST (chemical exchange saturation transfer) images on a 3T scanner after intravenous administration of a pH-responsive contrast agent (iopamidol). Static PET images were recorded immediately after MRI acquisitions to quantify the extent of F-FDG uptake. We demonstrated the occurrence of tumor pHe changes that report on acidification of the interstitial fluid caused by an accelerated glycolysis. Combined PET and MRI-CEST images reported complementary spatial information of the altered glucose metabolism. Notably, a significant inverse correlation was found between extracellular tumor pH and F-FDG uptake, as a high F-FDG uptake corresponds to lower extracellular pH values. These results show how merging the information from F-FDG-uptake and extracellular pH measurements can improve characterization of the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Res; 76(22); 6463-70. ©2016 AACR.
绝大多数癌症无论氧气供应情况如何,都会表现出葡萄糖摄取和糖酵解增加。这种代谢转变导致乳酸生成增加,从而降低细胞外 pH 值(pHe),这是肿瘤微环境的一个标志。通过这种方式,失调的肿瘤 pHe 和上调的葡萄糖代谢紧密相关,它们的相对评估可能有助于了解潜在的生物学机制。在这里,我们通过在 HER2 乳腺癌的小鼠模型中进行 MRI-CEST(化学交换饱和转移)成像,非侵入性地研究了肿瘤 F-FDG 摄取与细胞外 pH 值之间的体内相关性。在静脉注射 pH 响应性造影剂(碘帕醇)后,在 3T 扫描仪上获取 MRI-CEST 图像,评估肿瘤细胞外 pH 值和灌注。立即在 MRI 采集后记录静态 PET 图像,以量化 F-FDG 摄取的程度。我们证明了肿瘤 pHe 变化的发生,这些变化反映了由于糖酵解加速导致细胞间质酸化。联合 PET 和 MRI-CEST 图像报告了葡萄糖代谢改变的互补空间信息。值得注意的是,细胞外肿瘤 pH 值与 F-FDG 摄取之间存在显著的负相关关系,因为高 F-FDG 摄取对应于较低的细胞外 pH 值。这些结果表明,融合 F-FDG 摄取和细胞外 pH 值测量的信息如何改善肿瘤微环境的特征。Cancer Res; 76(22); 6463-70. ©2016 AACR.