High‐resolution 1 H NMR spectroscopy in the diagnosis of breast cancer

Surgical specimens from 22 patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast were analyzed by high‐resolution 1 H NMR spectroscopy at 80 and 300 MHz. Results were compared with those obtained from 9 benign (proliferative dysplasia without atypia) breast samples. NMR spectra at 80 MHz showed well‐resolved water and lipid peaks so it was possible to calculate specific T 1 and T 2 relaxation times. The longitudinal T 1 , relaxation process of the water was found to be properly represented by a monoexponential function, whereas the transverse T 2 decay was well accounted for by a biexponential model. Relaxation time measurements of the water were found to be a valuable tool in breast tissue characterization, in particular (a) mean T 1 , values from malignant and control populations are well distinguished ( P < 0.0008): (b) mean T 2 , values of both fast and slow components from the two populations are statistically different ( P < 0.0001) and no overlap exists in the distributions of the second component. Three‐hundred‐meg‐ ahertz spectra allowed a detailed analysis of the lipidic component of the sample: malignant tumors were found to present in the region 1.3–1.2 ppm a species characterized by a very slow transverse relaxation time ( T 2 = 200–1000 ms). © 1988 Academic Press, Inc.