Elevated glycine detected on in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a breast cancer patient: case report and literature review

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a promising non-invasive diagnostic method that can detect and quantify endogenous tissue metabolites. High glycine levels obtained from ex vivo breast MRS have been associated with poor prognosis; however, glycine evaluation has not been reported regarding in vivo MRS. We report our finding in a breast cancer patient in whom pre-treatment but not post-treatment in vivo MRS showed elevated glycine and discuss the implications of this finding.