A Study of [13C]Pyruvate as an Imaging Agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Healthy Volunteers
This clinical trial investigates the use of [13C]pyruvate as an imaging agent for MRI scans. [13C]pyruvate is a natural sugar found in your body, but it can also be given to people by injection into a vein as an imaging agent for MRI scans. When [13C]pyruvate moves throughout the body after injection, chemical reactions in the body’s cells change the sugar into energy (a process called metabolism). As [13C]pyruvate is metabolized, it shows up in the images made with MRI scans. Researchers think [13C]pyruvate could be especially useful for imaging cancer. This is because MRI scans using [13C]pyruvate can detect small amounts of cancer as the imaging agent is metabolized in cancer cells. In addition, [13C]pyruvate causes few side effects and does not expose people to radiation. Many imaging agents given to cancer patients are radioactive (give off radiation as they travel throughout the body). Information from this study may help researchers learn more about how the imaging agent is distributed in healthy organs and tissues, and may help change approaches to MRI imaging in cancer patients.