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Image-guided ethyl cellulose ethanol ablation to enable treatment of cervical dysplasia

Award Number: R37CA302885
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/05/2025
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2030

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Image-guided ethyl cellulose ethanol ablation to enable treatment of cervical dysplasia - ABSTRACT Cervical cancer affects the lives of half a million women worldwide each year, and over half of these women die. There are large health disparities in the incidence of cervical cancer in the United States, which are influenced by access to healthcare. Preventative solutions that are widely used in wealthy communities are not accessible or practical for use in medically underserved regions due to sophisticated technologies and expertise needed to sustain these solutions. Thus, alternative protocols that employ low-cost, simple-to-use technologies are needed to prevent cervical cancer. Our vision is to develop high quality, low-cost interventions that will address shortcomings of current solutions for cervical cancer prevention. Previously, our team created and successfully launched the Pocket colposcope, a low-cost, portable device to diagnose cervical dysplasia in the primary care setting. However, diagnosis alone will not lead to decreases in cervical cancer mortality if access to point-of-care treatment remains limited. Recently, thermocoagulation has gained acceptance for ablation of cervical dysplasia as it does not require consumables (continuous supply of pressurized liquid nitrogen for cryotherapy) or a stable power supply (for LEEP). While thermocoagulation effectively ablates superficial layers of cervical lesions (≤3.5 mm), it is unable to ablate deeper, more advanced lesions. To develop a complementary therapeutic approach to thermocoagulation, the University of Maryland (UMD) has partnered with Calla Health Foundation under phase I and phase II SBIR funding (R44CA257303) to establish an injectable low-cost ablative therapy based on injection of a ubiquitous agent, ethanol to treat cervical dysplasia, which can be delivered at deeper depths. Specifically, we developed a new formulation of ethanol using a polymer called ethyl cellulose (EC) to act as a slow-release gel limiting off target toxicity and a speculum-compatible injector to reliably deliver ethanol into the region of interest. Moving forward, the goal of our Academic Industry Partnership (AIP) is to assess the repeatability and depth of EC-ethanol injections administered with the speculum-compatible injector, develop an image-guided injection method for lesion identification, and assess the safety and zone of necrosis caused by EC-ethanol injections in women scheduled for hysterectomy.


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: 2026 ( Subtotal = $599,308 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	2	7/10/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$599,308
														Subtotal = $599,308

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $627,148 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	1	8/4/2025	NEW	$627,148
														Subtotal = $627,148

Grand Total All Awards = $1,226,456

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Image-guided ethyl cellulose ethanol ablation to enable treatment of cervical dysplasia

Award Number: R37CA302885

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/05/2025

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2030

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