Phosphorus-31 as a Nuclear Probe for Malignant Tumors

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Abstract
31P may prove useful as an additional nucleus for detecting malignancy by NMR. The spin-lattice relaxation times for 31P, determined by a saturation technique employing a 90.degree.-.tau.-90.degree.-.tau.-90.degree.... pulse sequence, were significantly higher for 2 rat malignancies. Novikoff hepatoma and Walker sarcoma and the Crocker sarcoma of mice than for normal liver, muscle, brain, kidney and intestine tissues. No individual measurement of malignant tissues overlapped any of the measurements of normal tissues, and the probabilities of insignificance ranged from .029 for Crocker sarcoma to .000184 for Novikoff hepatoma. The 31P nucleus, because of its strategic placement in the nucleic acid molecule, may be useful as a new probe for exploring the mechanism of carcinogenesis. The results call attention to another nucleus that may prove valuable for NMR equipment aimed at the detection of internal malignancies in humans.