Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

NMR-based Metabolomics in Breast Cancer Research

This webinar took place on May 14, 2020

Webinar Overview

Despite progress in early detection and therapeutic strategies, breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death among women globally. Due to the heterogeneity and complex tumor biology, breast cancer patients with similar diagnoses might have different prognoses and responses to treatment. Metabolomics is the branch of “omics” technologies that involves high-throughput identification and quantification of small-molecule metabolites in the metabolome. Cancer cells must be able to convert nutrients to biomass while maintaining energy production, which requires reprogramming of central metabolic processes. This phenomenon is increasingly recognized as a potential target for treatment, but also as a source for biomarkers that can be used for prognosis, risk stratification, and therapy monitoring. This webinar will introduce NMR-based metabolomics research in breast cancer, covering aspects in the analytical pipeline to enable identification of prognostic and predictive biomarkers.

Key Learning Objectives

  • NMR-based metabolomics is a relevant tool in cancer research
  • Breast cancer is associated with specific metabolic aberrations
  • NMR-based metabolomics can provide important information at all stages of the cancer timeline
  • Standardization, validation, multi-center studies, and data-sharing are important issues that can enhance clinical translation

Who Should Attend?

  • Scientists and clinicians involved in cancer research
  • Scientists and clinicians interested to learn more about metabolomics

Important note: The methods and solutions discussed during the webinar are for research use only and not for use in clinical diagnostic procedures.

Speakers

Dr. Tone Frost Bathen

Head Professor, MR Cancer Group

As head of the MR Cancer Group, Bathen’s main research interests are focused on personalized medicine and studies of functional and metabolic properties of cancer, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS). By developing, optimizing, and applying advanced MR (in combination with other molecular methods) to characterize cancer, the group’s goal is to establish better diagnostic tools for the stratification of patients to treatment and treatment monitoring. Current research activities mainly focus on breast and prostate cancer, enabled by a close collaboration with St. Olav’s University Hospital in Trondheim. Although clinical research has high priority, the broad spectrum of systems for cancer studies provides translational research, covering ex vivo as well as in vivo MRI and MRS of cancer cells and laboratory animals. Bathen’s group also maintains several large biobanks of human tissue and biofluid samples.

Dr. Charlie Carter

Editorial Team SelectScience

Charlie studied neuroscience at the University of Bristol, UK, before completing a Masters in Science Communication. As a member of the Editorial team, Charlie plays an integral role in shaping the content on SelectScience.