Deuterium labeling of GLUCOse improves magnetic resonance imaging Sensitivity to CANcer metabolism

Project Information

GLUCO-SCAN

Grant agreement ID: 101088351

DOI

10.3030/101088351

EC signature date 5 June 2023

Start date 1 December 2023

End date 30 November 2028

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 2 495 924,00

EU contribution

€ 2 495 924,00

Coordinated by

MEDIZINISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN
Austria

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GLUCO-SCAN (Deuterium labeling of GLUCOse improves magnetic resonance imaging Sensitivity to CANcer metabolism)

Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2026-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

GLUCO-SCAN addresses a central need in oncology: clinicians require whole-body information on tumor metabolism to detect disease, stage it, and monitor therapy. Today this role is largely fulfilled by glucose-sensitive positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) (often combined with CT or MR), which is powerful but expensive, not universally available, and—crucially—uses ionizing radiation, limiting repeated examinations and making screening/follow-up in younger patients less attractive. Whole-body MRI, in contrast, is widely available, cost-effective, and radiation-free, but primarily provides morphologic information and lacks the diagnostically valuable metabolic readout that drives many PET indications.
The overall objective of GLUCO-SCAN is to create a disruptive, non-/minimally invasive “PET-like” metabolic imaging capability on MRI by advancing whole-body Deuterium Metabolic Imaging (DMI) after administration of deuterated glucose. Building on pioneering DMI work largely confined to single organs and ultra-high-field scanners, the project aims to develop a robust whole-body DMI hardware, acquisition, and quantitative reconstruction framework and integrate DMI with conventional whole-body MRI within one examination to capture morphology and metabolism simultaneously; and perform the first clinical evaluation in cancer patients.
Expected impact is a step-change in accessibility and safety of metabolic imaging: radiation-free, repeatable whole-body metabolic assessments for therapy response monitoring and longitudinal follow-up, with potential to in the long run reduce costs and reliance on nuclear-medicine infrastructure. By uniting MR physics, engineering, radiology, nuclear medicine, oncology, and biochemistry, GLUCO-SCAN is designed to enable a paradigm shift toward combined morphologic-metabolic MRI as a broadly deployable complement to PET in cancer care.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the first 24 months, the work focused on building the technical foundation that must be in place before any patient studies can begin. The overall aim is to enable MRI to measure how the body processes a harmless, deuterium-labeled form of glucose—providing metabolic information without ionizing radiation.
We developed and tested new MRI measurement methods to detect the deuterium signal from administered glucose and from metabolic products that appear as the body converts and uses it. A substantial part of this period was dedicated to careful validation in phantoms (test objects with known composition) to optimize sensitivity, speed, and robustness. In parallel, we performed first feasibility measurements in healthy volunteers to confirm that the methods also work under realistic conditions in people and to identify remaining practical limitations.
On the system side, we started establishing the experimental framework needed for whole-body measurements at 7 Tesla, including concepts for repeatable positioning and stable calibration when moving across different body regions. At the same time, we built the first version of the processing pipeline that converts the raw measurements into metabolic maps and, where possible, basic information about changes over time.
Finally, we initiated the translation path toward 3 Tesla—the scanner type that is most widely available in hospitals—using simplified test setups to prepare later clinical deployment. At this interim stage, no cancer patients have been scanned yet, and whole-body results in healthy volunteers remain preliminary while the acquisition, hardware configuration, and processing pipeline are further refined.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

After the first two years, the project has already moved beyond the current state of the art by turning deuterium-based metabolic MRI from a mainly “single-region feasibility idea” into a more complete, scalable approach that is designed for realistic whole-body workflows. We have developed faster and more robust measurement methods and the accompanying data-processing pipeline that can convert raw signals into quantitative metabolic maps and—where possible—capture changes over time. A key advance is that these methods are being shaped around practical constraints (scan time, stability, and repositioning across body regions), rather than being limited to highly controlled, narrow experimental setups.
The potential impact is significant. If the remaining milestones are achieved, this work could enable radiation-free metabolic imaging that can be repeated frequently, offering a more accessible complement to PET for therapy monitoring and follow-up, and potentially lowering barriers for longitudinal studies and routine clinical use. At this interim stage, however, these impacts are still expected rather than proven, because large-scale whole-body validation and patient studies are planned for later in the project.
To ensure uptake and success, the next needs are clearincluding demonstrate stable and reproducible performance across body regions in healthy volunteers, then show feasibility and added value in patients, including direct comparison to established reference methods. In parallel, the approach must be hardened for routine use by simplifying setup, standardizing analysis, and ensuring that results are consistent across scanners and sites—steps that are essential before the method can move beyond specialized research environments.