Clinical Trials that Utilize MRS as a Biomarker

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is an ideal tool for therapeutic monitoring in clinical trials although its role has not been formally examined. An initial search for the use of MRS in a clinical trials database showed 488 studies; however, many are ongoing and limited information is available about them. Therefore, the results were cross-referenced with the scientific literature to find those studies that have been completed and have produced peer-reviewed publications. This yielded 61 studies, demonstrating that MRS is actively used in clinical trials. Its most frequent use is to study hepatic lipid content. This is followed by studies of skeletal muscle, using both proton and phosphorous MRS, and finally the brain, which surprisingly was the subject of only 15% of the total MRS studies found. A review and summary of these studies is provided to better understand how MRS is used in clinical trials, and to assess its importance as a noninvasive and quantitative biomarker for disease.