Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Malignant Glioma Using 5-Aminolevulinic Acid in an Animal Model

Seung Hong Choi¹

This study is the first to demonstrate that 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) administration increases the intracellular iron concentration of glioblastomas by promoting the synthesis of heme, which is the metabolite of 5-ALA. As intracellular iron can be detected by MRI, we believe that 5-ALA-enhanced MRI will aid in the identification of high-grade foci in gliomas.