MRI based on a sugar molecule can tell cancerous from noncancerous cells.

A recent discussion of an article by John Hopkins Medicine states that the research done by Xiaolei Song, Ph.D., lead author, and the other scientists involved suggest that MRI has the possibility to replace tumor biopsies. Mammograms, CT scans, and other imaging tests have the ability to detect tumors, but invasive biopsies are still required to tell whether they are cancerous or not. This study discusses that an MRI could detect sugar molecules that are shed by the outer membrane of cancerous cells that are not on regular cells, so therefore a noninvasive technique to diagnosing a cancer. However, this technique has only been tested on test tube-grown cells and mice as of now. Jeff Bulte, Ph.D., a professor of radiology and radiological science in the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says that when cells become cancerous, some of the proteins on their outer membrane become less slimy by shedding the previously mentioned sugar; so, by tuning the MRI to detect the sugars on a particular protein, they are able to see the difference between the cancerous and noncancerous cells. The research done by Bulte is built upon research done by other scientists where they found a finely tuned MRI detected glucose based on the way it interacts with surrounding water molecules. Their next step is to see whether or not this technique can tell the difference between more types of cancerous tumors from benign ones in live mice, as well as if it is even possible to use this technique on humans.

Again, more testing on human subjects needs to be done in order to test this technique; however, this could be a great step towards cancer research. Invasive procedures are tiring and can take it's toll, so having a technique to discover whether or not a tumor is cancerous seems like a great idea to me. But just because it has worked on the lab grown cells and the mice, doesn't mean that it will work on humans. I'm interested to see future studies on this.