University of Wisconsin System
Grant: $488,120 - National Institutes of Health - Sep. 25, 2009
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Award Description: In the last several years, there has been a remarkable transformation in the field of cancer therapeutics, with a shift from traditional 'cytotoxic' agents to targeted therapies. There has also been a rapid increase in the number of potential compounds available for investigation. This trend has necessitated the development of innovative biomarkers that rapidly assess tumor response of a patient's tumor to a specific agent. Such biomarkers are urgently needed to personalize the treatment of tumors with effective agents. The overall purpose of this work is to develop new imaging strategies that measure early response to anti-angiogenic chemotherapeutic agents in liver tumors, using new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods that measure blood flow to tumors (perfusion). Currently, the assessment of tumor response relies on the measurement of tumor size based on standard size criteria guidelines. This process requires months of treatment that may be ineffective or toxic and is often very expensive. Moreover, new 'anti- angiogenic' agents that interfere with the blood flow to growing tumors may provide clinical benefit while not actually resulting in a decrease in tumor size. For example, treatment with sorafenib (a new anti-angiogenic drug) results in a 3-month improvement in overall survival in advanced primary liver tumors (hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)), while only 3% of tumors actually decreased in size. However, anti-angiogenic agents, such as sorafenib have a dramatic impact on the microscopic blood vessels of tumors within just hours or a few days. This underscores the concept that tumor size, measured with current cross-sectional imaging methods (CT or MRI), is a late indicator of tumor response, and does not reflect early changes from treatment at the cellular level. Therefore, we hypothesize that early changes of tumor blood flow are predictive of long-term tumor regression or stabilization in patients treated with anti-angiogenic chemotherapy. Our proposed studies could lead to more efficient evaluation of treatment options for tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and metastatic liver tumors and may provide new measurements of tumor response in an effort to deliver more individualized cancer care in the future. This application addresses the broad Challenge Area (05): 'Comparative Effectiveness Research' and specific Challenge Topic, 05-EB-101 Comparative Effectiveness of Advanced Imaging Procedures. As described below, we propose to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of advanced perfusion MRI methods to characterize blood flow to liver tumors before and immediately after initiation of systemic therapy. We aim to determine the comparative effectiveness of advanced perfusion MRI with conventional cross- sectional imaging methods (CT) that measure tumor response based size, using tumor size criteria.
Project Description: See Award Description
Jobs Summary: The University of Wisconsin - Madison appreciates the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. This additional funding will allow the University to retain employees and create new jobs. As of September 30, 2009, no jobs have been created or retained on this award. (Total jobs reported: 0)
Project Status: Not Started
This award's data was last updated on Sep. 25, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
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