Applying in vitro NMR spectroscopy and 1 H NMR metabonomics to breast cancer characterization and detection Tracy L. Whitehead a, * , Thomas Kieber-Emmons b a US Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecosystems Research Division, 960 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605-2700, USA b Arkansas Cancer Research Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street #824, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA Received 5 July 2005 Available online 8 November 2005 Keywords: Breast cancer; Metabonomics; Plasma; Metabolic profile Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................... 165 2. Progress in NMR methods for breast cancer analysis ...................................................... 166 2.1. Breast cancer .............................................................................. 166 2.2. Detection by MRI/MRS ...................................................................... 166 2.3. Analysis by NMR spectroscopy ................................................................. 166 3. NMR spectroscopy of breast tissue and breast tissue extracts ................................................................................... 167 3.1. Ex vivo 1 H studies of tissue ................................................................... 167 3.2. In vitro 1 H studies of tissue extracts ............................................................. 167 3.3. Ex vivo 31 P studies .......................................................................... 169 3.4. In vitro 31 P studies .......................................................................... 169 4. NMR spectroscopy of metabolic processes in breast cancer cells .............................................. 169 4.1. In vitro 13 C studies .......................................................................... 169 4.2. In vitro 31 P studies .......................................................................... 170 5. Biofluid analysis ................................................................................. 170 6. NMR metabonomics .............................................................................. 173 7. Conclusions .................................................................................... 173 8. Disclaimer ..................................................................................... 173 Acknowledgements ............................................................................... 173 References ..................................................................................... 174 1. Introduction Many of the magnetic resonance (MR) studies of breast cancer that may be found in the literature focused on in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) techniques. In some cases, ex vivo analysis of intact tissue or in vitro analysis of tissue extracts have been performed to compare the applicability of such sampling methods to in vivo spectroscopy as well as to aid in spectral interpretation of MRS data; however, given the relatively limited number of studies, the areas of ex vivo and in vitro nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for breast cancer analysis remain open for exploration. In this review, we discuss several published reports of ex vivo and in vitro analyses of breast cancer based primarily on tissue and tissue extracts. Applications of NMR spectroscopy to the analysis of biological fluids obtained from breast cancer patients will be addressed as well. Data presented in this review Progress in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy 47 (2005) 165–174 www.elsevier.com/locate/pnmrs 0079-6565/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.pnmrs.2005.09.001 * Corresponding author. Tel.: C1 706 355 8252; fax: C1 706 355 8202. E-mail address: whitehead.tracy@epa.gov (T.L. Whitehead).