Chapter 3.1 - Usefulness of Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in the Clinical Management of Brain Tumors

Single-voxel (SV) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides a noninvasive metabolic fingerprint for the multimodal evaluation and clinical management of brain tumoral masses thanks to the signals of protons from biomolecules such as lactate, lipids, creatine, or choline. This chapter considers three distinct scenarios in which SV MRS may be of clinical utility. First, when an abnormal mass is found in the brain, SV MRS can help in the differentiation between tumor and pseudotumoral pathology. Second, when the mass has been identified as a tumor, SV MRS can be of help in suggesting a specific diagnosis before a tumor sample can be analyzed by the pathologist. Finally, after treatment, SV MRS can be of help in assessing new lesions, by distinguishing between tumor progression and post-treatment changes. This chapter discusses the role of SV MRS in each one of these situations from a clinical point of view. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.