Deuterium MRI for characterizations of glucose metabolism in subcutaneous bladder cancer models.

Motivation: Bladder cancer is a common malignant tumor with a high recurrence rate. Metabolic imaging may be an effective method for accurate diagnosis, especially deuterium MRI, which overcomes the shortcoming of bladder tumor signals masked by urine in PET. Goal(s): To characterize the metabolism of bladder cancer using deuterium MRI. Approach: Mice model of subcutaneous bladder cancer was established for deuterium MRI. Results: The "warburg effect" of bladder tumors can be visualized by deuterium MRI, as shown by increased 2H-glucose uptake and 2H-lactate and 2H-water production. Impact: Our study established that deuterium MRI holds promise to depict the metabolism of bladder cancer. Deuterium MRI is a safe, non-radioactive, and effective imaging modality to diagnosis bladder cancer and guide clinical treatment in the future.