MISSION - Prostate
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A physiological study comparing hyperpolarised carbon-13 labelled pyruvate (13C pyruvate) metabolism and sodium MRI in prostate cancer and normal prostate tissue
IRAS ID
196902
Contact name
Tristan Barrett
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study involves the intravenous injection of the molecule pyruvate to obtain metabolic images using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with prostate cancer. Pyruvate is a sugarlike chemical that is formed naturally in the body as part of the breakdown of glucose. To increase the MRI signal from pyruvate, the molecule is labelled with carbon13 and put through a process known as hyperpolarization. Hyperpolarization is achieved by cooling the labelled pyruvate in a strong magnetic field and exposing it to microwaves. Carbon13 labelling and hyperpolarization do not alter any of the chemical properties of pyruvate and therefore do not affect its natural behaviour in the body. Carbon13 labelling and hyperpolarization are simply a means of increasing the signal obtained with MRI. Before injection the pyruvate is warmed and passed through quality control checks to ensure temperature, concentration and pH are correct. We will also use another non-invasive MRI technique to assess the salt (or sodium) content in the prostate as there is some evidence to suggest that sodium may increase in the presence of cancer; no additional injection is required for this part of the study.
The patients in this study will have their prostates removed as part of the planned standard of care treatment for prostate cancer following our research MRI. This tissue will be analysed in the laboratory to determine areas of tumour tissue and normal tissue and how these may differ in their imaging signal.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0205
Date of REC Opinion
5 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion