NIH grant: Elasticity imaging of breast cancer during treatment (1R01CA301199-01A1)

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NIH grant 1R01CA301199-01A1: Elasticity imaging of breast cancer during treatment
Institute: {'code': 'CA', 'abbreviation': 'NCI', 'name': 'National Cancer Institute', 'admin_org_id': '12500008', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: DAWN  HERSHMAN. Award: $594297.
Start: 2026-06-18T00:00:00.
One woman in seven will develop breast cancer in her lifetime increasing
chances of occurrence with age. Breast cancer is thus the most frequently
diagnosed cancer (excluding skin cancer) accounting for 29% of all cancers
diagnosed each year. More importantly, breast cancer remains the second most
lethal in women with 20% of new invasive breast cancer patients dying from the
disease each year. In the case of malignant tumors, treatment depends on the
stage of disease progression. In non-metastatic breast tumors, surgical
intervention followed by radiation therapy is typically recommended. In locally
advanced breast cancer, patients are treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy
(NACT) re-surgically. Successful NACT and FUS thermal ablation may lead to
softening and stiffening of the breast tumor, respectively. If stiffness changes are
monitored, treatment response can be reliably and timely detected. To this end,
we have developed two noninvasive, time- and cost-efficient theranostic
methodologies for characterization and treatment of female breast cancer: 1)
NACT monitoring of locally advanced malignant tumors with Harmonic Motion
Imaging (HMI) and 2) FUS treatment of benign and non-metastatic tumors with
HMI-guided Focused Ultrasound (HMIgFUS). HMI employs the FUS beam for
vibration and mapping of tumors based on their distinct relative stiffness
compared to the non-cancerous surrounding tissue. The use of animals is
justified in order to be able to determine the effect of ablation and chemotherapy
with both the safety and efficacy of the technique before clinical translation.
HMIgFUS simultaneously monitors and induces thermal ablation without
treatment interruption. In both methodologies, the same ultrasound beam
simultaneously mechanically vibrates (with amplitude modulation (AM) at low
power for diagnostic/localization purposes) and/or ablates (at high power for
treatment purposes) the detected tumor. The team assembled encompasses
expertise in ultrasound engineering, imaging, surgery, oncology, mouse tumor
models and histopathological analysis. The techniques proposed herein stand to
timely inform the current but also new therapies for breast cancer and ultimately
lead to outpatient and efficient procedures for women with early-stage breast
cancer.

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