Proton MR spectroscopy of squamous cell carcinoma of the extracranial head and neck: in vitro and in vivo studies.

PURPOSE To determine the ability of in vitro one-dimensional and two-dimensional proton MR spectroscopy to help differentiate squamous cell carcinoma of the extracranial head and neck from normal tissues and to correlate the in vitro observations with clinical studies.

METHODS In vitro 1-D and 2-D correlated proton MR spectroscopy (11 T) was performed in tissue specimens of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (n = 19), in normal tissue (n = 13), in metastatic cervical lymph nodes (n = 3), and in a squamous cell carcinoma cell line. In vivo 1-D proton MR spectroscopy (1.5 T) was performed in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (n = 7) and in healthy volunteers (n = 7). The ratio of the areas under the choline (Cho) and creatine (Cr) resonances were calculated for 1-D proton MR spectra for the in vitro tissue studies and correlated with the in vivo studies. Data from in vitro 2-D correlated spectroscopy were analyzed for differences in the presence or absence of various metabolites in samples of tumor and normal tissue. Statistical analysis consisted of 2 x 2 factorial repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), discriminate analysis, and chi2 test.

RESULTS The mean in vitro 1-D proton MR spectroscopic Cho/Cr ratio was significantly higher in tumor than in normal tissue. The difference between the mean ratios appeared to increase with increasing echo time. All in vivo tumor Cho/Cr ratios were greater than the calculated mean in vitro tumor ratio, whereas six of the seven volunteers had no detectable Cho and Cr resonances. Two-dimensional correlated MR spectroscopic data revealed that a variety of amino acids have a significantly greater likelihood of being detected in tumor than in normal tissues.

CONCLUSIONS One-dimensional and 2-D proton MR spectroscopy can help differentiate primary squamous cell carcinoma and nodal metastases containing squamous cell carcinoma from normal tissue both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, 2-D spectroscopy can help identify the presence of certain amino acids in squamous cell carcinoma that are not detected in normal tissue.