Role of endorectal magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in two different Gleason scores in prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE The major goal of the work was to record three-dimensional magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) and to compare metabolite ratios between different Gleason scores (GS). MATERIALS AND METHODS MRSI localized by endorectal coil-acquired point-resolved spectroscopy was performed in 14 men with prostate cancer of GS 6 (n = 7) and 7 (n = 7) using a 1.5-tesla MRI scanner. RESULTS The ratio of (choline + creatine)/citrate was increased with an increase of GS, i.e. 0.590 ± 0.171 in the target lesion and 0.321 ± 0.157 in the contralateral region of patients with a GS of 6 as opposed to 1.082 ± 0.432 in the target lesion and 0.360 ± 0.243 in the contralateral region of patients with a GS of 7. CONCLUSION Our pilot results demonstrated that MRSI was an additional biochemical tool which is complementary to the current imaging modalities for early diagnosis and therapeutic management of prostate cancer.