A team from the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, Surrey, has been using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to measure the chemical content of living cells.

The equipment has enabled them to accurately chart the chemical changes that take place in cells as they enter and progress through the process of self-destruction which all healthy cells are programmed to do.

The technique is set to become an invaluable tool for monitoring the success of cancer treatments.

Cancer cells do not die in the same way that normal cells do when they come to the end of their natural lives - a process known as apoptosis. Instead, they continue to divide in an uncontrolled way, leading to the formation of tumours.

Some modern cancer treatments are designed to stimulate cancer cells to commit suicide.

The researchers hope that by monitoring the chemical changes prompted by the cancer drugs, it should be possible to determine how effective they will be at killing off the cancer cells.

MRS and the closely related technique Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) work by placing a subject inside a magnet and using electromagnetic waves to make the atoms of the subject resonate and send back a signal.

Different chemicals resonate at different frequencies so scientists can measure which chemicals are present, in what quantities and how that is changing over time.

Researchers Dr Sabrina Ronen and Dr Paul Clarke discovered that levels of some of the chemicals involved in energy production are altered as a cell begins apoptosis.

Tell tale sign

Technique can help measure impact of chemotherapy drugs

This tell tale chemical sign of cell suicide appeared before other signals of the onset of apoptosis.

The researchers found the same chemical changes in leukaemia cells and bowel cancer cells.

Dr Ronen said: "These are preliminary experiments performed on isolated cells, and more work is necessary.

"However, in the future, it is possible that MRS could be used by doctors to decide what treatment a patient should receive."

The researchers believe counting how many cells commit suicide immediately after chemotherapy treatment is the best way to evaluate the longer-term impact of the treatment.

MRS may also become a tool in the assessment of new gene therapies which specifically aim to re-start the process of programmed cell death in cancer cells.