Correlations between 31P NMR spectroscopy and 15O perfusion measurements in the RIF-1 murine tumor in vivo.

The tumor physiological environment is one of the least understood and most important factors in determining the response of solid tumors to cancer therapy. To examine several important characteristics of the tumor physiological environment we have used in situ photon activation-15O decay measurements (perfusion characteristics) and 31P surface coil-NMR spectroscopy (metabolic characteristics) to observe in vivo subcutaneous RIF-1 tumors grown in female C3H/Anf mice. The following correlations between the 15O perfusion characteristics and the 31P NMR metabolic characteristics in individual tumors were observed: a negative correlation between pH, as measured by NMR (pHNMR), and the inorganic phosphate to nucleosides triphosphate peak height ratio (Pi:NTP); for the well-perfused fraction of the tumor there is a positive correlation with both pHNMR and the phosphocreatine to nucleosides triphosphate peak height ratio (PCr:NTP), and a negative correlation with Pi:NTP. These correlations are interpreted as evidence for a direct relationship between the distribution of cellular physiological environments and the tumor metabolic state. Because these physiological characteristics affect tumor response to various therapeutic modalities and both measurements can be made on humans, it is suggested that these techniques may be of prognostic value in the clinical management of human cancer.