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Advanced Magnetic Resonance Center

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OMRF scientists exploring novel breast cancer treatment

OMRF developing promising treatment for brain tumor affecting Kennedy

Rheal A. Towner, Ph.D. Associate Member, Advanced Magnetic Resonance Center Director, Advanced Magnetic Resonance Center Imaging Facility Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Pharmaceutical Sciences,   University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Associate Member, College of Medicine, Graduate Faculty in the Department of   Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Research Interests
A critical issue regarding in vivo early detection of many cancers is to define and identify characteristic molecular or metabolic events which represent malignant tumors. I utilize in vivo magnetic resonance (MR) technology, in particular MRI and image-guided MR spectroscopy (MRS), to detect nodules and/or tumors in liver and brain cancer models and simultaneously determine the pathology and biochemical properties of the lesions which reflect disease progression.

My research is focused on the investigation of in vivo tissue metabolic indicators that can be used to predict and understand nodule and tumor development from initiation through to progression. We have found that MRI at 7 Tesla can detect hepatic nodules/tumors >100 mm in diameter, allowing in vivo assessment of nodule/tumor development during carcinogenesis. In addition, MRS can detect nodule and tumor-specific metabolic events, such as alterations in lipid unsaturated fatty acids and correlate these metabolic changes with tumor grading. We have also found that fatty acid desaturase enzymes, stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (Scd1) and fatty acid desaturase (FADS or d6-desaturase) are found to be altered during tumor formation which may reflect alterations in lipid metabolism that we detect with in vivo MRS. Currently we are investigating in vivo tumor morphology and angiogenesis, using MRI and MR angiography, respectively, and fatty acid metabolism using image-guided MRS, in a transgenic mouse (TGF-a/c-myc) hepatocarcinogenesis model and rat glioma models.

A related area of research that we have commenced in my laboratory is to design MRI-detectable molecular targeting agents to visualize nodule and tumor antigens in vivo. We are the first to detect nodules/tumors in experimental models that express c-MET, a tyrosine kinase receptor found in many human cancers, using the in vivo MRI molecular-targeting approach. The aim is to be able to use MRS and molecular-targeted MRI as clinical diagnostic tools for in vivo tumor grading. We are also using MR methods to assess anti-cancer drugs in experimental animal cancer models.

Other areas of interest in my laboratory include studies regarding oxidative stress mechanisms associated with carcinogens, such as aflatoxin. We were the first to detect and characterize hydroxyl and arachidonyl radicals from the in vivo metabolism of aflatoxin in mammals.

Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 2002.

Mailing Address
Free Radical Biology and Aging Research Program, MS 21
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104

Contact Information
Phone: (405) 271-7383
Fax: (405) 271-3980
E-mail: Rheal Towner@omrf.org