Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41734885›Full record

ArticleNMR in biomedicine2026

Patient-Specific Biases in Fat Fraction Estimates of Malignant Bone Marrow due to Relaxation Times Measured With STEAM at 3T.

Yassine N Azma, David J Collins, Pete J Lally, Nina Tunariu, Dow-Mu Koh, Christina Messiou, Geoff Charles-Edwards, Christina Triantafyllou, Neal K Bangerter, Jessica M Winfield

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NMR in biomedicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Yassine N AzmaMRI Unit, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4429-2828
David J CollinsMRI Unit, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Pete J LallyDepartment of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0075-0103
Nina TunariuMRI Unit, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Dow-Mu KohMRI Unit, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Christina MessiouMRI Unit, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0557-9379
Geoff Charles-EdwardsMRI Unit, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Christina TriantafyllouResearch and Collaborations GBI, Siemens Healthcare Ltd, Camberley, UK.
Neal K BangerterDepartment of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Jessica M WinfieldMRI Unit, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

Funding

Cancer Research UK 28677National Institute for Health and Care Research NIHR203314Siemens Healthineers 230151
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Semiquantitative fat fraction estimation using 2-point Dixon sequences is widely used in whole-body (WB) MR imaging for malignant bone disease but is biased by relaxation times. Understanding this bias requires water- and fat-specific relaxometry data in normal-appearing marrow and lesions. This study measured bone marrow relaxation times in healthy volunteers and WB-MRI patients using MRS at 3T. Five healthy female volunteers (mean age 38.0 ± 2.5 years) and 24 patients with malignant bone disease undergoing clinical WB-MRI (13 male; mean age 67.7 ± 9.7 years; primary cancers: breast = 5, melanoma = 1, multiple myeloma = 8, prostate = 10) underwent variable inversion/echo time STEAM and 3D gradient echo fat-water imaging. MRS water and fat peaks were fitted to determine T1, T2, R2* (from linewidths) and proton density fat fraction (PDFF). Scan-rescan repeatability of MRS parameters was assessed in volunteers. Lesions were classified by disease state according to clinical reports and segmented in Dixon imaging data for comparison of fat fraction estimates with MRS. Repeatability was evaluated using coefficients of variation. Summary statistics (mean, standard deviation and range) were reported; exploratory inferential statistics were also determined with normality (Shapiro-Wilk) and variance (Levene's) tests before one-way ANOVA and Tukey's comparisons (p < 0.05). Monte-Carlo simulations assessed relaxation bias on PDFF. All quantitative MRS parameters were repeatable (coefficient of variation < 10%). Water T1 and T2 were most sensitive to disease state in patients, ranging from 1121 to 2206 and from 15 to 71 ms respectively, and were demonstrated to substantially affect 2-point Dixon fat fraction estimates with Monte-Carlo simulation. Imaging PDFF achieves closer agreement with MRS PDFF than 2-point Dixon methods. These findings remain preliminary due to the small sample size, but they suggest value in future studies with larger cohorts evaluating water relaxation times or PDFF in malignant bone disease.

Indexed as

Adipose TissueBone MarrowBone Marrow NeoplasmsMagnetic Resonance ImagingAdultAgedFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyMaleMiddle AgedReproducibility of Resultsbone marrowfat quantificationmetastasisrelaxometryspectroscopywhole‐body

Identifiers

PMID41734885
PMCPMC12932037

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