剑桥大学开发的一种基于MRI的成像技术可以预测卵巢癌肿瘤对治疗的反应，并在原代肿瘤细胞模型（PDC）中迅速显示治疗效果。

An MRI-based imaging technique developed at the University of Cambridge predicts the response of ovarian cancer tumours to treatment, and rapidly reveals how well treatment is working, in patient-derived cell models.

这种名为超极化碳-13成像的技术，能够将MRI扫描仪中检测到的信号增强10,000倍以上。科学家们发现，该技术可以区分两种不同亚型的卵巢癌，从而揭示其对治疗的敏感性。

The technique, called hyperpolarised carbon-13 imaging, can increase the detected signal in an MRI scanner by more than 10,000 times. Scientists have found that the technique can distinguish between 2 different subtypes of ovarian cancer, to reveal their sensitivities to treatment.

他们使用这种成像技术来观察原代肿瘤细胞模型，这些模型与人类高级别浆液性卵巢癌的行为非常相似，这是最常见的致命疾病。这种技术清晰地显示出肿瘤对卡铂（Carboplatin，卵巢癌的标准一线化疗方法之一）的敏感性和耐药性。

They used it to look at patient-derived cell models that closely mimic the behaviour of human high grade serous ovarian cancer, the most common lethal form of the disease. The technique clearly shows whether a tumour is sensitive or resistant to Carboplatin, one of the standard first-line chemotherapy treatments for ovarian cancer. 

这将使肿瘤科医生能够预测患者对治疗的反应，并观察治疗在最初48小时内的效果。

This will enable oncologists to predict how well a patient will respond to treatment, and to see how well the treatment is working within the first 48 hours.

不同类型的卵巢癌对药物治疗的反应各不相同。若采用现有的检测手段，患者往往需要等待数周乃至数月的时间，才能得知自己的癌症是否对治疗有反应。而这项新型成像技术提供的快速反馈，帮助肿瘤科医生在几天内针对每位患者调整并个性化治疗方案。

Different forms of ovarian cancer respond differently to drug treatments. With current tests, patients typically wait for weeks or months to find out whether their cancer is responding to treatment. The rapid feedback provided by this new technique will help oncologists to adjust and personalise treatment for each patient within days.

该研究将超极化成像技术与已经被广泛进行临床应用的正电子发射断层扫描（PET）结果进行了比较。结果表明，PET无法检测不同肿瘤亚型之间的代谢差异，因此无法预测存在的肿瘤类型。

The study compared the hyperpolarised imaging technique with results from Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans, which are already widely used in clinical practice. The results shows that PET did not pick up the metabolic differences between different tumour subtypes, so could not predict the type of tumour present.

该报告于2024年12月6日发表在《癌基因（Oncogene）》期刊上。

The report is published on 6 December 2024in the journal Oncogene.

该研究的资深作者、剑桥大学生物化学系凯文·布林德尔教授表示：“这项技术不仅揭示了卵巢癌肿瘤的侵袭性，还能协助医生评估患者体内的多个肿瘤，进而对疾病预断进行更全面的评估，并据此选择最合适的治疗方案。”

“This technique tells us how aggressive an ovarian cancer tumour is, and could allow doctors to assess multiple tumours in a patient to give a more holistic assessment of disease prognosis so the most appropriate treatment can be selected,” said Professor Kevin Brindle in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Biochemistry, senior author of the report.

布林德尔补充说：“我们可以在治疗前对肿瘤进行成像以预测其有反应的可能性，然后在治疗后立即再次成像，以确认其是否确实产生了反应。这能帮助医生为每位患者选择最合适的治疗方案，并根据需要进行调整。

Brindle added: “We can image a tumour pre-treatment to predict how likely it is to respond, and then we can image again immediately after treatment to confirm whether it has indeed responded. This will help doctors to select the most appropriate treatment for each patient and adjust this as necessary.

“癌症患者最常问的问题之一就是他们接受的治疗是否有效。如果医生能让患者尽快接受最好的治疗，那显然是有益的。”

“One of the questions cancer patients ask most often is whether their treatment is working. If doctors can speed their patients onto the best treatment, then it’s clearly of benefit.”

下一步是在卵巢癌患者进行该技术的试验，研究员们预计该试验会在未来几年内开展。

The next step is to trial the technique in ovarian cancer patients, which the scientists anticipate within the next few years.

这项研究为超极化碳-13成像技术进行更广泛的临床应用的价值提供了依据。

This study adds to the evidence for the value of the hyperpolarised carbon-13 imaging technique for wider clinical use.

布林德尔教授还在英国癌症研究中心剑桥研究所工作，他在过去二十年里一直在开发用于不同类型癌症研究的成像技术，包括乳腺癌、前列腺癌和胶质母细胞瘤（一种常见且侵袭性的脑肿瘤）。胶质母细胞瘤也有代谢各异的不同亚型，也可以通过成像预测它们对治疗的反应。布林德尔于2020年在剑桥发表的第一项临床研究是针对乳腺癌患者。

Brindle, who also works at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, has been developing this imaging technique to investigate different cancers for the last two decades, including breast, prostate and glioblastoma - a common and aggressive type of brain tumour. Glioblastoma also shows different subtypes that vary in their metabolism, which can be imaged to predict their response to treatment. The first clinical study in Cambridge, which was published in 2020, was in breast cancer patients.

在英国，每年约有7,500名妇女被诊断出患有卵巢癌，其中约5,000名患有其中最凶险的一种，即高级别浆液性卵巢癌（HGSOC）。

Each year about 7,500 women in the UK are diagnosed with ovarian cancer - around 5,000 of these will have the most aggressive form of the disease, called high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC).

所有类别的卵巢癌治愈率都非常低，目前在英格兰，仅有43%的女性在被诊断出卵巢癌后能够存活五年以上。由于卵巢癌的症状往往容易被忽视，导致疾病在确诊前已经扩散，这给成像技术与治疗带来了极大的挑战。

The cure rate for all forms of ovarian cancer is very low and currently only 43% of women in England survive five years beyond diagnosis. Symptoms can easily be missed, allowing the disease to spread before a woman is diagnosed - and this makes imaging and treatment challenging.

这项研究由英国癌症中心（Cancer Research UK）资助。

The research was funded by Cancer Research UK.