Absence of correlation between spin-lattice relaxation times and water content in human tumor tissues.

With a view to ascertaining the possible role of water content of the cells in the reported elevated values for proton spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) in malignant tissues, measurements of percent water content as well as T1 were undertaken in 68 cases of normal and concerous tissues from diverse sites in human patients. T1 values for the uninvolved samples were found to lie in the range of 400-1000 msec while the corresponding range for the involved samples was from 450-1520 msec. Water content of both normal and uninvolved tissues mostly lay in the narrow range of 70-90%. Occasionally samples with large T1 values showed lower water content as well. Data obtained weakens the case for characterization of tumor cells on the basis of their water content alone.