Nuclear magnetic resonance in cancer, XII: Application of NMR malignancy index to human lung tumours.

Sixty specimens of human lung tissue from 52 individuals were inspected at 22.5 MHz by proton magnetic resonance techniques. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic capabilities of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique for the diagnosis of malignancy. The combination of two NMR parameters (spin-lattice (T1) and spin-spin (T2) relaxation times) into a malignancy index yielded 3 cases of overlap between the two populations of tissue. The mean and standard deviations obtained were 1.966 +/- 0.262 for normal tissue, and 2.925 +/- 0.864 for malignant specimens. In addition, analysis of the electrolyte and water content of the tissues confirm that factors other than specimen water content influence the relaxation time.