Fig. 5. Hyperpolarised ¹³C-MRI on a patient with pancreatic cancer.

Top row: anatomical axial slice showing the pancreatic tumour (white arrow) and the exocrine pancreas (purple arrow); the green region of interest outlines the whole pancreas. The ADC is greatly reduced in the tumour tissue. Bottom row: high [1‐¹³C]pyruvate, [1‐¹³C]lactate and [1‐¹³C]alanine signals were observed in the pancreatic tumour, with images acquired >30 sec after injection of hyperpolarised [1‐¹³C]pyruvate. The spectrum acquired in the area of the pancreatic cancer shows [1‐¹³C]pyruvate, [1‐¹³C]lactate and [1‐¹³C]alanine peaks. Reprinted from⁵⁰ with permission from John Wiley & Sons.