Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) MRI of 2DG and FDG as a Tool for Molecular Imaging of Tumors and Metastases

Michal Rivlin¹, Uzi Eliav¹, Judith Horev², Ilan Tsarfaty², Gil Navon¹

The two glucose analogs 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) and 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) are preferentially taken up by cancer cells, undergo phosphorylation and accumulated in the cells. Owing to their exchangeable protons on their hydroxyl residues they exhibit significant CEST effect. Here we report for the first time CEST-MRI on a mouse implanted with DA3 xenograph mammary tumors, which was i.v. injected with 2DG (20 mg/kg). The tumor exhibited a CEST effect of about 10%, while the concentration used was much lower than the approved therapeutic treatment for human. Thus 2DG/FDG CEST MRI has the potential to replace FDG-PET for the detection of tumors and metastases.