Alex Guimaraes, MD, PhD
Instructor, Harvard Medical School
Assistant Radiologist, Dept. of Abdominal Imaging
Intervention

Phone: 617-726-9357, 617-643-324
Email: aguimaraes@mgh.harvard.edu

My research interests all relate to magnetic resonance imaging development and application to oncologic imaging and can be divided into three arenas:

  1. The application of novel, blood pool contrast agents, in particular nanoparticulate iron oxide agents, that have been developed at the Center for Molecular Imaging Research (CMIR), for the specific purpose of imaging neovascularity (angiogenesis) within humans suffering from various malignancies including breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer. In particular, one of my major aims is to design and implement clinical trials that both assess the validity of neovascular mapping of tumor angiogenesis, as well as evaluating novel therapeutic regimens.

  2. The design and implementation of clinical trials of novel, molecular imaging, developed at CMIR.

  3. The development of novel pulse sequences, and analytic strategies including magnetic resonance spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging for the specific purpose of mapping tumor physiology both in humans and in animal models.

Current projects that are underway include:

  1. Study to correlate steady state MR measurements and 3D tumoral vascular volume maps to histologically determined microvascular density (MVD) measurements and or serum markers of angiogenesis (VEGF, FGF, PDGF) in patients with breast cancer.

  2. Study to correlate MR measurements of vascular volume fraction with serum markers of angiogenesis, and assess efficacy of anti-angiogenesis therapies in patients with renal cell cancer.

  3. Study to explore the ability of MRI scans using nanoparticulate iron oxide agents to detect vascular changes associated with insulitis in patients with Type 1 diabetes.

Clinical:
My clinical interests are generally involved in gastrointestinal and genitourinary imaging, in specific magnetic resonance applications in the abomen and pelvis, and ectovascular interventional radiology.



Publications
Steele DJ, Kasmar AG, Guimaraes AR, Dekker JP
Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Case 3-2013. A 72-year-old woman with abdominal pain and distention after peritoneal dialysis.
New Engl J Med. 2013;368(4):375-85 - PMID: 23343067
Simmons LH, Guimaraes AR, Zukerberg LR
Case 6-2013.
New Engl J Med. 2013;368(8):757-65 - PMID: 23425169
Yuan Y, Andronesi OC, Bortfeld TR, Richter C, Wolf R, Guimaraes AR, Hong TS, Seco J
Feasibility study of in vivo MRI based dosimetric verification of proton end-of-range for liver cancer patients.
Radiother Oncol. 2013;106(3):378-82 - PMID: 23473960
Faris JE, Blaszkowsky LS, McDermott S, Guimaraes AR, Szymonifka J, Huynh MA, Ferrone CR, Wargo JA, Allen JN, Dias LE, Kwak EL, Lillemoe KD, Thayer SP, Murphy JE, Zhu AX, Sahani DV, Wo JY, Clark JW, Fernandez-Del Castillo C, Ryan DP, Hong TS
FOLFIRINOX in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: The Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Experience.
Oncologist. 2013;:ePub - PMID: 23657686
Bazari H, Guimaraes AR, Kushner YB
Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Case 20-2012. A 77-year-old man with leg edema, hematuria, and acute renal failure.
New Engl J Med. 2012;366(26):2503-15 - PMID: 22738101
Hunt DP, Becker AE, Guimaraes AR, Stemmer-Rachamimov A, Misdraji J
Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Case 21-2012. A 27-year-old man with fatigue, weakness, weight loss, and decreased libido.
New Engl J Med. 2012;367(2):157-69 - PMID: 22784119
Ying H, Kimmelman AC, Lyssiotis CA, Hua S, Chu GC, Fletcher-Sananikone E, Locasale JW, Son J, Zhang H, Coloff JL, Yan H, Wang W, Chen S, Viale A, Zheng H, Paik JH, Lim C, Guimaraes AR, Martin ES, Chang J, Hezel AF, Perry SR, Hu J, Gan B, Xiao Y, Asara JM, Weissleder R, Wang YA, Chin L, Cantley LC, Depinho RA
Oncogenic Kras Maintains Pancreatic Tumors through Regulation of Anabolic Glucose Metabolism.
Cell. 2012;149(3):656-70 - PMID: 22541435 - PMCID: PMC3472002
Sebastián C, Zwaans BM, Silberman DM, Gymrek M, Goren A, Zhong L, Ram O, Truelove J, Guimaraes AR, Toiber D, Cosentino C, Greenson JK, Macdonald AI, McGlynn L, Maxwell F, Edwards J, Giacosa S, Guccione E, Weissleder R, Bernstein BE, Regev A, Shiels PG, Lombard DB, Mostoslavsky R
The Histone Deacetylase SIRT6 Is a Tumor Suppressor that Controls Cancer Metabolism.
Cell. 2012;151(6):1185-99 - PMID: 23217706 - PMCID: PMC3526953
Polasek M, Fuchs BC, Uppal R, Schühle DT, Alford JK, Loving GS, Yamada S, Wei L, Lauwers GY, Guimaraes AR, Tanabe KK, Caravan P
Molecular MR Imaging of Liver Fibrosis: A Feasibility Study using Rat and Mouse Models.
J Hepatol. 2012;57(3):549-55 - PMID: 22634342 - PMCID: PMC3423553
Sahani DV, Bonaffini PA, Catalano OA, Guimaraes AR, Blake MA
State-of-the-Art PET/CT of the Pancreas: Current Role and Emerging Indications.
Radiographics. 2012;32(4):1133-58 - PMID: 22786999
Kirsch DG, Grimm J, Guimaraes AR, Weissleder R
In response to dr. Garbow and colleagues.
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2011;79(3):959 - PMID: 21281902
Cronin CG, Gervais DA, Hahn PF, Arellano R, Guimaraes AR, Mueller PR
Treatment of Deep Intramuscular and Musculoskeletal Abscess: Experience With 99 CT-Guided Percutaneous Catheter Drainage Procedures.
AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2011;196(5):1182-1188 - PMID: 21512090
Coutinho AC, Krishnaraj A, Pires CE, Bittencourt LK, Guimaraes AR
Pelvic applications of diffusion magnetic resonance images.
Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am. 2011;19(1):133-57 - PMID: 21129639
Zhong L, D'Urso A, Toiber D, Sebastian C, Henry RE, Vadysirisack DD, Guimaraes A, Marinelli B, Wikstrom JD, Nir T, Clish CB, Vaitheesvaran B, Iliopoulos O, Kurland I, Dor Y, Weissleder R, Shirihai OS, Ellisen LW, Espinosa JM, Mostoslavsky R
The Histone Deacetylase Sirt6 Regulates Glucose Homeostasis via Hif1alpha.
Cell. 2010;140(2):280-293 - PMID: 20141841 - PMCID: PMC2821045
Gaglia JL, Guimaraes AR, Harisinghani M, Turvey SE, Jackson R, Benoist C, Mathis D, Weissleder R
Noninvasive imaging of pancreatic islet inflammation in type 1A diabetes patients.
J Clin Invest. 2010;121(1):442-5 - PMID: 21123946 - PMCID: PMC3007157
Vallet S, Mukherjee S, Vaghela N, Hideshima T, Fulciniti M, Pozzi S, Santo L, Cirstea D, Patel K, Sohani AR, Guimaraes A, Xie W, Chauhan D, Schoonmaker JA, Attar E, Churchill M, Weller E, Munshi N, Seehra JS, Weissleder R, Anderson KC, Scadden DT, Raje N
Activin A promotes multiple myeloma-induced osteolysis and is a promising target for myeloma bone disease.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010;107(11):5124-9 - PMID: 20194748 - PMCID: PMC2841922
Taniguchi CM, Winnay J, Kondo T, Bronson RT, Guimaraes AR, Aleman JO, Luo J, Stephanopoulos G, Weissleder R, Cantley LC, Kahn CR
The Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Regulatory Subunit p85{alpha} Can Exert Tumor Suppressor Properties through Negative Regulation of Growth Factor Signaling.
Cancer Res. 2010;70(13):5305-5315 - PMID: 20530665 - PMCID: PMC3204358
Kirsch DG, Grimm J, Guimaraes AR, Wojtkiewicz GR, Perez BA, Santiago PM, Anthony NK, Forbes T, Doppke K, Weissleder R, Jacks T
Imaging Primary Lung Cancers in Mice to Study Radiation Biology.
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010;76(4):973-977 - PMID: 20206017 - PMCID: PMC2847457
Guimaraes AR, Ross R, Figuereido JL, Waterman P, Weissleder R
MRI with Magnetic Nanoparticles Monitors Downstream Anti-Angiogenic Effects of mTOR Inhibition.
Mol Imaging Biol. 2010;13(2):314-20 - PMID: 20559742
Daniel KD, Kim GY, Vassiliou CC, Galindo M, Guimaraes AR, Weissleder R, Charest A, Langer R, Cima MJ
Implantable diagnostic device for cancer monitoring.
Biosens Bioelectron. 2009;24(11):3252-7 - PMID: 19442510 - PMCID: PMC2738970
Boland GW, Guimaraes AS, Mueller PR
The evolving radiology landscape: the importance of effective leadership.
Eur J Radiol. 2009;19(10):2321-5 - PMID: 19471944
Ross RW, Zietman AL, Xie W, Coen JJ, Dahl DM, Shipley WU, Kaufman DS, Islam T, Guimaraes AR, Weissleder R, Harisinghani M
Lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (LNMRI) identifies occult lymph node metastases in prostate cancer patients prior to salvage radiation therapy.
Clin Imaging. 2009;33(4):301-5 - PMID: 19559353
Engelman JA, Chen L, Tan X, Crosby K, Guimaraes AR, Upadhyay R, Maira M, McNamara K, Perera SA, Song Y, Chirieac LR, Kaur R, Lightbown A, Simendinger J, Li T, Padera RF, Garcia-Echeverria C, Weissleder R, Mahmood U, Cantley LC, Wong KK
Effective use of PI3K and MEK inhibitors to treat mutant Kras G12D and PIK3CA H1047R murine lung cancers.
Nat Med. 2008;14(12)::1351-1356 - PMID: 19029981 - PMCID: PMC2683415
Jeong JH, Wang Z, Guimaraes AS, Ouyang X, Figueiredo JL, Ding Z, Jiang S, Guney I, Kang GH, Shin E, Hahn WC, Loda MF, Abate-Shen C, Weissleder R, Chin L
BRAF activation initiates but does not maintain invasive prostate adenocarcinoma.
PLoS ONE. 2008;3(12):e3949 - PMID: 19079609 - PMCID: PMC2597248
Guimaraes AR, Rakhlin E, Weissleder R, Thayer SP
Magnetic resonance imaging monitors physiological changes with antihedgehog therapy in pancreatic adenocarcinoma xenograft model.
Pancreas. 2008;37(4):440-4 - PMID: 18953259
Boland GW, Guimaraes AS, Mueller PR
The radiologist's conundrum: benefits and costs of increasing CT capacity and utilization.
Eur J Radiol. 2008;19(1):9-11; discussion 12 - PMID: 18766347
Boland GW, Guimaraes AS, Mueller PR
Radiology report turnaround: expectations and solutions.
Eur J Radiol. 2008;18(7):1326-8 - PMID: 18327594
Guimaraes AR, Tabatabei S, Dahl D, McDougal WS, Weissleder R, Harisinghani MG
Pilot Study Evaluating Use of Lymphotrophic Nanoparticle-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Assessing Lymph Nodes in Renal Cell Cancer.
Urology. 2008;71(4):708-12 - PMID: 18295316
Harisinghani M, Ross R, Guimaraes A, Weissleder R
Utility of a New Bolus-Injectable Nanoparticle for Clinical Cancer Staging
Neoplasia. 2007;(9)12:1160-1165 - PMID: 18084623 - PMCID: PMC2134912
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