Tuesday, July 1, 2025 7/1/2025

Integrative single cell analyses of inflammation-derived circulating hybrid cells to identify aggressive disease

Award Number: R01CA253860
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/01/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2026

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Integrative single cell analyses of inflammation-derived circulating hybrid cells to identify aggressive disease - PROJECT SUMMARY The lifetime risk for acquiring colorectal cancer (CRC) is 7%, with an astounding rate of disease recurrence in 32% of newly diagnosed patients after their “successful” treatment. Patient with recurrent disease have a dismal 14.3% five-year survival. Lack of effective biomarkers hampers early detection of pre-metastatic disease, impacting overall survival from CRC. We identified a promising disseminated tumor cell—a product of macrophage (MФ) and cancer cell fusion—that harbors genotypic and phenotypic features of both cells of origin. Detectable along the metastatic cascade, hybrid cells can initiate tumor growth, migrate in response to MФ receptor-ligand chemotaxis, and seed metastatic sites. In peripheral blood, hybrids, named circulating hybrid cells (CHCs) outnumber conventionally defined circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in CRC patients, overcoming the sensitivity of CTC—a primary barrier—to usage as a biomarker for disease. CHCs are phenotypically diverse and reflect protein expression of the primary tumor. Based on these exciting findings, we propose that hybrid cells subpopulations harbor discrete phenotypes of pre-metastatic cells that can be identified and defined using single cell image-based phenotyping through multiplexed imaging and multimodal integration with –omics. To this end, we will analyze CHCs derived from early stage and metastatic tumors for image-based phenotyping with single cell gene expression. Utilizing quantitative and advanced image analytics including deep learning approach for image-based cell profiling, we will define inter/subcellular spatial features in single cells to identify new subpopulations and differentiate discrete phenotypic populations associated with metastatic signatures. In addition, the application of both imaging and genomic technologies to the same specimen independently measures highly dimensional, yet non-orthogonal, sets of cellular features. Multimodal integration of imaging and single cell data will quantify systems-level biological functions of cellular subpopulation and enhance imaging biomarker panel to gain biomarker specificity and sensitivity for validation in a discrete CRC patient cohort. Our overall goal is to develop a novel tumor biomarker, based upon CHC phenotyping and –omics analyses that can be used to provide new quantitative insights and develop machine-driven prediction with superior accuracy for identifying risk of metastases in CRC patients to ultimately impact survival.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $605,993 )
2025	2025	OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	3181 SW SAM JACKSON PARK RD	PORTLAND	OR	97239	MULTNOMAH	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	001	5	5/23/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$60,599
2025	2025	OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	3181 SW SAM JACKSON PARK RD	PORTLAND	OR	97239	MULTNOMAH	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	5	3/7/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$545,394
														Subtotal = $605,993

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $585,409 )
2024	2024	OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	3181 SW SAM JACKSON PARK RD	PORTLAND	OR	97239	MULTNOMAH	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	001	4	4/16/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$30,812
2024	2024	OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	3181 SW SAM JACKSON PARK RD	PORTLAND	OR	97239	MULTNOMAH	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	4	3/28/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$554,597
														Subtotal = $585,409

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $606,669 )
2023	2023	OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	3181 SW SAM JACKSON PARK RD	PORTLAND	OR	97239	MULTNOMAH	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	3	5/12/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$606,669
														Subtotal = $606,669

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $616,688 )
2022	2022	OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	3181 SW SAM JACKSON PARK RD	PORTLAND	OR	97239	MULTNOMAH	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	2	4/11/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$616,688
														Subtotal = $616,688

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $629,276 )
2021	2021	OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	3181 SW SAM JACKSON PARK RD	PORTLAND	OR	97239	MULTNOMAH	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	1	3/9/2021	NEW	$629,276
														Subtotal = $629,276

Grand Total All Awards = $3,044,035

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Integrative single cell analyses of inflammation-derived circulating hybrid cells to identify aggressive disease

Award Number: R01CA253860

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/01/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2026

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer