Different sodium concentrations of noncancerous and cancerous prostate tissue seen on MRI using an external coil

Q: Why was an external 23Na MRI coil considered for prostate cancer imaging?

Conventional endorectal coils can have nonuniform sensitivity, limited prostate coverage, and cause patient discomfort. An external 23Na coil could mitigate these limitations while enabling whole-gland sodium measurements.

Q: How did the study evaluate differences in tissue sodium concentration?

It compared tissue sodium concentration between prostate cancer lesions and surrounding noncancerous prostate tissue in the peripheral zone and transition zone using a 1-sample t-test. Percent differences in tissue sodium concentration were reported and assessed for statistical significance.

Q: What were the main findings regarding tissue sodium concentration in cancer versus noncancer tissue?

Prostate cancer lesions showed significantly lower tissue sodium concentration than noncancerous tissue overall. The transition zone demonstrated a significant difference, while the peripheral zone difference was not statistically significant.

Sep 21, 2026

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Sodium (23Na) MRI for prostate cancer offers a promising but insufficiently documented alternative to conventional endorectal coil acquisition. The study quantifies tissue sodium concentration differences within prostate regions in participants with biopsy-proven prostate cancer and healthy volunteers, using an external 23Na radiofrequency coil at 3T on a 3-T PET/MRI system. Differences in tissue sodium concentration and corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient findings are statistically tested, demonstrating cancer-associated reductions and evaluating feasibility for noninvasive diagnosis and management support.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Purpose

Materials and Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keywords

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Summary

Key Results

Introduction

Different sodium concentrations of noncancerous and cancerous prostate tissue seen on MRI using an external coil Josephine L. Tan , MSc 1, Vibhuti Kalia, MD2,3, Stephen E. Pautler, MD4,5, Glenn Bauman , MD 1,5, Lena V. Gast, PhD6, Max M€uller, PhD6, Armin M. Nagel , PhD6,7, Jonathan D. Thiessen, PhD1,2,8, Timothy J. Scholl , PhD 1,9,10, Alireza Akbari , PhD 1,8,9, 􀀃 1 Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada 2 Medical Imaging, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada 3 Medical Imaging, St Joseph's Health Care, London, N6A 4V2, Canada 4Surgery, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada 5 Oncology, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada 6 Institute of Radiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universit€at (FAU) Erlangen-N€urnberg, Erlangen, 91054, Germany 7 Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 69120, Germany 8 Lawson Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, N6A 5W9, Canada 9 Robarts Research Institute, London, N6A 3K7, Canada 10 Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, M5G 0A3, Canada 􀀃 Corresponding author: Alireza Akbari, PhD, Victoria Hospital, The Lilibeth Caberto Kidney Clinical Research Unit, 800 Commissioners Road East, Room ELL-113, London, ON N6A 5W9, Canada ([aakbari@uwo.ca](aakbari@uwo.ca)) Abstract Background: Sodium (23 Na) MRI of prostate cancer (PCa) is a novel but underdocumented technique conventionally acquired using an endorectal coil. These endorectal coils are associated with challenges (e.g. , a nonuniform sensitivity profile, limited prostate coverage, patient discomfort) that could be mitigated with an external 23 Na MRI coil. Purpose: To quantify tissue sodium concentration (TSC) differences within the prostate of participants with PCa and healthy volunteers using an external 23 Na MRI radiofrequency coil at 3 T. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted from January 2022 to June 2024 in healthy volunteers and participants with biopsy-proven PCa. Prostate 23 Na MRI was acquired on a 3-T PET/MRI scanner using a custom-built 2-loop (diameter, 18 cm) butterfly surface coil tuned for the 23 Na frequency (32 .6 MHz) . The percent difference in TSC (ΔTSC) between prostate cancer lesions and surrounding noncancerous prostate tissue of the peripheral zone (PZ) and transition zone (TZ) was evaluated using a 1-sample t-test. TSC was compared to apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements as a clinical reference. Results: Six healthy volunteers (mean age, 54.5 years ± 12.7) and 20 participants with PCa (mean age, 70.7 years ± 8.3) were evaluated. A total of 31 lesions were detected (21 PZ, 10 TZ) across PCa participants. Compared to noncancerous prostate tissue, prostate cancer lesions had significantly lower TSC (ΔTSC,–14. 1% ± 18.2, P ¼ .0002) and ADC (ΔADC,–26.6% ± 18.7, P < .0001) . Conclusion: We used an external 23 Na MRI coil for whole-gland comparison of TSC in PCa and noncancerous prostate tissue at 3 T. PCa lesions presented with lower TSC compared to surrounding noncancerous PZ and TZ tissue. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of an external 23 Na MRI coil to quantify TSC in the prostate and offer a promising, noninvasive approach to PCa diagnosis and management. Keywords: tissue sodium concentration, apparent diffusion coefficient, human prostate cancer, 3 Tesla, sodium (23Na) MRI Abbreviations ADC ¼ apparent diffusion coefficient, FOV ¼ field of view, mpMRI ¼ multiparametric MRI, PCa ¼ prostate cancer, PIRADS ¼ Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System, PZ ¼ peripheral zone, ROI, region of interest, SNR ¼ signal-to-noise ratio, TE ¼ echo time, TR, repetition time, TSC ¼ tissue sodium concentration, TZ ¼ transition zone Summary MRI was used to compare tissue sodium concentration in prostate cancer lesions to noncancerous tissue with a novel external sodium-23 (23 Na) radiofrequency coil at 3 Tesla. Key Results 􀀏 The external

FAQs

Why was an external 23Na MRI coil considered for prostate cancer imaging?

Conventional endorectal coils can have nonuniform sensitivity, limited prostate coverage, and cause patient discomfort. An external 23Na coil could mitigate these limitations while enabling whole-gland sodium measurements.

How did the study evaluate differences in tissue sodium concentration?

It compared tissue sodium concentration between prostate cancer lesions and surrounding noncancerous prostate tissue in the peripheral zone and transition zone using a 1-sample t-test. Percent differences in tissue sodium concentration were reported and assessed for statistical significance.

What were the main findings regarding tissue sodium concentration in cancer versus noncancer tissue?

Prostate cancer lesions showed significantly lower tissue sodium concentration than noncancerous tissue overall. The transition zone demonstrated a significant difference, while the peripheral zone difference was not statistically significant.

Sep 21, 2026

Upload by Seraphina