| 2009 Research Grants Dedicated in loving memory of Nancy Duffy
MR Diffusion-Weighted and parametric breast imaging combined with MR Spectroscopy and parametric PET/CT for enhanced breast cancer detection
The preferred method of breast cancer diagnosis is breast biopsy. However, it is highly invasive and possible painful procedure that might result in complications (including infection and pneumothorax); it produces scar tissue that might complicate future mammographic examinations. The vast majority of biopsies are negative. This translates to over 400,000 of retrospectively unnecessary biopsies last year in the U.S.
Our aim is to develop noninvasive, painless and risk free virtual breast biopsy. It will consist only of a specially designed series of breast imaging using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Many kinds of latest advanced imaging protocols (including Magnetic Resonance Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and Spectroscopy) will be utilized. The information about breast tissue characteristics will be extracted and combined into one image volume that will be presented to physicians. We will investigate how to modify imaging approaches to match specificity of conventional breast biopsy. In addition, the combined imaging approaches will allow very quick (24 hr) evaluation of response to therapy.
Dedicated in loving memory of
Rapid Predication of Bone Fracture Risk in Metastatic Breast Cancer Lesions
Surgery is often performed on patients with metastatic breast cancer lesions to bone for cases where there is thought to be a high risk of bone fracture. Unfortunately, the tools available to the clinician to determine which patients might fracture are not as predictive as we would like. Currently, x-ray images along with patient symptoms are used to guide the course of action. As an example, a clinical series conducted at Upstate Medical University using a published fracture rating scheme (Mirels), only 1/3 of patients predicted to have a bone fracture actually did so. Therefore, there is great clinical demand to better serve these patients. The overall goal of this proposal is to develop a rapid image-based technique to assess fracture risk for patients with breast cancer tumors to bone. Recent advances in engineering modeling techniques have not made it possible to assess fracture risk with good accuracy from computed tomography (CT) scans. The aims of this study are to develop an engineering software protocol to obtain, analyze, and predict bone strength in less than one hour from the time of a CT scan session and compare prediction with actual mechanical tests of bone strength. We hypothesize that these structural models can predict fracture with greater accuracy than current x-ray based scoring systems. If successful, we could then proceed in the near future to a limited scale prospective clinical trial for patients suffering from metastatic tumors to bone.
Dedicated in loving memory of
Abnormal Tropomyosis Protein Expression in Human Breast Cancer
It has been hypothesized that one of the steps in the malignant transformation of human breast epithelial cells is modulation of the expression of tropomyosin proteins that form the cell’s structural skeleton. There are four different human tropomyosin genes and, at the least, twenty different tropomyosin proteins identified to date. It is not exactly clear which of these many different proteins are under or over expressed in breast cancer. Our preliminary data with breast cancer cell lines indicate that a decreased expression of one of these isoforms TPM2B may be a common theme. TPM2B is thought to be capable of recognizing when a cell has lost contact with neighboring breast epithelial cells. When this occurs, it sends a signal causing the death of the non-adherent cell, thereby preventing invasion and metastasizes. Our experiments have also led to the discovering of a novel tropomyosin isoform TPM1λ, which is increased in breast cancer cells. We plan to measure the expression of all tropomyosins in normal and malignant tissues in various stages of breast disease. We wish to correlate the various expression patterns with the degree of breast cellular transformation, and malignancies and, the stage prognosis and response to therapy of individual breast cancer patients.
Also, because preliminary data indicated that the down-modulation of TPM2B expression and reverse the malignant characteristics of the cell, they might prove useful in the clinical treatment of patients with breast cancer.
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