MRI Based on Sugar Molecules Raises Possibility of Cancer Diagnosis Without Biopsies

Research recently published in the journal Nature Communications could one day make biopsies more effective, or even replace them altogether by noninvasively detecting sugar molecules shed by the outer membranes of cancerous cells. The research builds on recent findings by others that indicate glucose can be detected by a fine-tuned MRI technique based on the unique way it interacts with surrounding water molecules without administering dyes. During this study, researchers compared MRI readings from proteins known as mucins, with and without sugars attached, to see how the signal changed. They then looked for that signal in four types of lab-grown cancer cells and detected markedly lower levels of mucin-attached sugars than in normal cells. “As cells become cancerous, some proteins on their outer membranes shed sugar molecules and become less slimy, perhaps because they’re crowded closer together. If we tune the MRI to detect sugars attached to a particular protein, we can see the difference between normal and cancerous cells,” said the study’s lead researcher. “The advantage of detecting a molecule already inside the body is that we can potentially image the entire tumor. This often isn’t possible with injected dyes because they only reach part of the tumor. Plus, the dyes are expensive.” To read more about this study, click here.