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Improved whole-brain spectroscopic MRI for radiation therapy planning

Award Number: U01CA264039
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/05/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2027

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Improved whole-brain spectroscopic MRI for radiation therapy planning - Identifying the extent of brain tumor margins for radiation treatment planning remains a challenging task due to the infiltrative nature of these tumors and limitations in current standard imaging methods. Multiple studies including our own have demonstrated that an MR technique for detecting metabolites in tissue, MR spectroscopic imaging or spectroscopic MRI (sMRI), can detect areas of infiltrating tumor with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, enabling better radiation treatment of areas that lead to early recurrence and extending life. sMRI enables the identification of tumor extent that is marked by increased Choline/N-Acetylaspartate ratios, including regions that are not detectable by diagnostic MRI and that are normally left untreated. By allowing these previously undetected regions to be treated, sMRI has the potential to improve the efficacy of radiation treatment and significantly delay recurrence. In our 3-site sMRI-guided radiation dose escalation pilot study which was completed in 2019, we were able to demonstrate feasibility and safety. Survival analysis of all 30 GBM patients shows a promising median overall survival (OS) of 23 months compared to 16 months OS for GBM patients receiving standard-of-care. Our trial has been approved as a National Clinical Trial Network (ECOG-ACRIN) trial (EAF211). This is a great opportunity to disseminate this technique with staff support from ACRIN and American College of Radiology (ACR). We will achieve the goal in the renewal funding period of our current project by leveraging diverse expertise at three research sites and collaboration with Siemens Healthineers to engineer and validate technological improvements needed to improve sMRI acquisition, analysis, and clinical integration. These improvements include: (1) updated rapid and motion-robust sMRI for improved image quality; (2) new accelerated data processing pipelines to return Cho/NAA ratio maps to PACS for clinically timely radiology reporting; (3) new processing, display, and analysis methods that will present metabolite maps in an efficient manner with a clinician-friendly interface that enables integration with radiation treatment planning software systems; and (4) development of new tools to predict the optimal baseline RT planning strategies using sMRI. The completion of this study will provide robust sMRI acquisition methods and software tools that are ready to be deployed in clinical use and which will help guide important treatment decisions.


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 = $621,200 )
2026	2026	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	8	4/17/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$621,200
														Subtotal = $621,200

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $621,676 )
2025	2025	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	7	3/20/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$559,484
2025	2025	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	001	7	5/23/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$62,192
														Subtotal = $621,676

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $551,573 )
2024	2024	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	002	6	4/22/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$31,097
2024	2024	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	001	6	3/15/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$520,476
2024	2023	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	5	1/18/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $551,573

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $601,791 )
2023	2023	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	001	5	4/26/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$601,791
2023	2022	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	4	12/2/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$0
														Subtotal = $601,791

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $661,161 )
2022	2022	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	4	5/5/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$661,161
														Subtotal = $661,161

Grand Total All Awards = $3,057,401

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Improved whole-brain spectroscopic MRI for radiation therapy planning

Award Number: U01CA264039

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/05/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2027

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