Old Discovery Leading to New Era: Metabolic Imaging of Cancer with Deuterium MRI

The understanding of metabolic compartments involved in the survival, growth and invasion of tumours is important for modern cancer research. Deuterium metabolic spectroscopy (DMS) and metabolic imaging (DMI) have been demonstrated as robust, straightforward tools for visualising tumour metabolism in vivo. However, for them to become part of the cancer patient’s management pathway in a clinical setting, there remain many obstacles to overcome. Technological advancement in magnetic resonance imaging hardware and processing is needed. Further justification of DMI’s potential also requires more human study and multidisciplinary collaboration.