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Lunenfeld- Tanenbaum
Research Institute
Mount Sinai Hospital
Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex
600 University Avenue
Toronto Ontario M5G 1X5
Tel.: 416-586-2696
Fax: 416-586-5993
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Dr. Theodore Brown
INVESTIGATOR
Epithelial ovarian cancer commonly goes undetected, mainly because
symptoms rarely present before the cancer has advanced to a more
aggressive stage. Dr. Thedore Brown is a reproductive endocrine
biologist who was intrigued by the complexity of this disease, the
potential indirect role of reproductive factors, and the need to
improve outcomes for patients.
Dr. Brown is an Investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research
Institute, and Professor and Head of the Division of Reproductive
Endocrinology and Infertility within the University of Toronto's
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
He examines the role steroid hormones play in cancer risk and
progression, with a focus on epithelial ovarian cancer. In order to
develop effective treatments and better diagnostic tests, Dr. Brown is
working to identify markers of early stage disease. In collaboration
with scientists at Mount Sinai Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital,
Dr. Brown is using gene microarrays to identify the molecular pathways
and genes (including BRCA1/2) associated with ovarian cancer
predisposition and progression.
Dr. Brown is also focused on understanding the function of the
fallopian tube and ovulation in the predisposition to ovarian cancer,
as well as the role of inflammation. A better understanding of
pro-inflammatory genes, specifically those active in the early (or
'luteal') phase of the menstrual cycle, can help identify women at
increased risk of ovarian cancer. Dr. Brown is working with clinical
colleagues at the University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital to
assess healthy women and those with the BRCA1 gene (a known risk factor
for ovarian cancer) to determine the role of inflammation in the
fallopian tube.
Through his investigations into a small protein called 'SPARC' and
its known effects on the VEGF pathway (a cellular communication and
signaling pathway linked to the development and progression of cancer),
Dr. Brown and colleagues in the Department of Cell and Systems Biology
at the University of Toronto, the Ontario Cancer Institute and the
University of Guelph, are leading a study in mice to determine the
therapeutic potential of SPARC for women with advanced ovarian
cancer.
In addition to studying ovarian cancer, Dr. Brown collaborates with
colleagues in Mount Sinai Hospital's Centre for Fertility and
Reproductive Health as well as the Murray Koffler Urologic Wellness
Centre, to study cancer originating in other reproductive organs. He
also works with these colleagues in the area of female infertility.
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