In vivo 31 P NMR study of the metabolism of murine mammary 16/C adenocarcinoma and its response to chemotherapy, x-radiation, and hyperthermia

31 P NMR spectroscopy with surface coils has been used to monitor,in vivo , the phosphate metabolism of subcutaneously implanted mammary 16/C adenocarcinoma in C3H/He mice. This model tumor was studied during untreated tumor growth and after treatment with adriamycin, hyperthermia, and x-radiation. The mammary 16/C tumor exhibited a Gompertzian growth pattern. Levels of high-energy phosphate metabolites—phosphocreatine and ATP—decreased with increases in tumor mass. There was a concomitant increase in the level of Pi and a decrease in the apparent pH of the tumor. These spectral changes appear to reflect changes in tumor vascularization that accompany tumor growth, the tumor becoming progressively more hypoxic. Partial response of this tumor to chemotherapy with adriamycin was reflected in a small but measurable increase in the phosphocreatine resonance, a decrease in Pi , and a return of the intra-tumor pH to neutral. Hyperthermia resulted in progressive conversion of the31 P NMR spectrum to that of a dead tumor (high levels of Pi , small levels of residual sugar phosphates and pyridine dinucleotides, and acidic pH). X-irradiation (14.0 Gy) led to disappearance of the phosphocreatine peak within 15 min of treatment. Subsequently, this resonance grew back beyond its pretreatment level. As the tumor receded, its spectrum reflected the characteristics of aerobically metabolizing tissue (high levels of phosphocreatine and ATP and low levels of Pi and sugar phosphates).