Abstract #3022

Imaging a tumor hallmark: hyperpolarized [U-13C, U-2H]-glucose and [1-13C]-alanine non-invasively monitor TERT expression in gliomas in vivo

Pavithra Viswanath¹, Georgios Batsios¹, Anne Marie Gillespie¹, Peng Cao¹, Peder E Z Larson¹, Russell O Pieper², and Sabrina M Ronen¹

¹Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) expression is a fundamental hallmark of tumor proliferation, including in low-grade oligodendrogliomas. Inhibiting TERT expression is also a therapeutic strategy for gliomas. In this study, we show, for the first time, that metabolism of hyperpolarized [U-¹³C,U-²H]-glucose to 6-phosphogluconate via the pentose phosphate pathway and hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]-alanine flux to lactate can serve to non-invasively detect TERT expression in orthotopic low-grade oligodendrogliomas in vivo. Our imaging biomarkers will allow non-invasive, longitudinal detection of a molecular hallmark of tumor proliferation and have the potential to enhance imaging of glioma burden and response to emerging TERT therapies in the clinic.

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