Monday, October 27, 2025 10/27/2025

Acquired Resistance to Therapy and Iron (ARTI) Center

Award Number: U54CA274220
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/20/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2027

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Acquired Resistance to Therapy and Iron (ARTI) Center - Overall Summary Approximately 50% of cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy (RT), but local recurrence can still occur even with the use of advanced RT techniques. This local recurrence, which commonly develops in 30-50% of cancer cases, is exacerbated by the acquisition of RT resistance. This RT resistance is especially true for patients with locally advanced thoracic cancers, such as lung and esophageal cancers. RT can lead to an iron- dependent cell death modality, called ferroptosis, but whether ferroptosis resistance occurs within tumors giving rise to acquired RT resistance is not known and is the central theme of the proposed Acquired Resistance to Therapy and Iron (ARTI) Center. The overarching goals of the ARTI Center are: 1) to bridge the basic science mechanisms of ferroptosis in acquired resistance with translational research in preclinical models and human patient samples; 2) to identify cohorts of patients who are at greatest risk to develop acquired RT resistance; and 3) to investigate the ability of novel therapeutic agents to re-sensitize lung and esophageal cancer cells to radiation by inducing ferroptosis. The ARTI Center comprises two basic/mechanistic projects (Project 1 and Project 2), one preclinical/translational project (Project 3), and one shared resource core (Molecular Imaging Core [MIC]). Project 1 will focus on elucidating whether ferroptosis evasion is a key driver in acquired RT resistance using radioresistant lung cancer and esophageal cancer cell lines and xenograft models that will be used in Project 2. Project 2 will test the hypothesis that hypoxia, a long-recognized driver of tumor radioresistance, suppresses ferroptosis induction during RT and contributes to RT-induced acquired resistance to ferroptosis. Furthermore, expression of hypoxia-related genes and other targets of acquired RT resistance will be analyzed by single-cell sequencing in Project 3. Project 3 investigates changes in immune cells in the tumor microenvironment of humanized tumor models derived from chemoradiation therapy-responsive or -non- responsive esophageal adenocarcinoma patients. These ferroptosis-mediated immunologic changes in the tumor microenvironment may serve as prognostic biomarkers for identifying tumors that may acquire RT resistance and predicting cancer patient outcomes, which could, in the future, be modulated by the ferroptosis- inducing agents tested in Projects 1 and 2. Projects 1, 2, and 3 will be supported by the MIC that utilizes bioluminescence imaging to monitor tumor growth, positron emission tomography (PET) tracers to monitor cystine transporter activity and to identify hypoxic regions within tumors, as well as novel, redox-tuned PET tracers for identifying activated innate immune cells. The ARTI Center will develop an Administrative Core for effective communication and collaboration between the ARTI Center Project and Core Leaders and Co-Leaders with National Cancer Institute (NCI) of Acquired Resistance to Therapy Network (ARTNet) program staff as well as other ARTNet centers to synergize ARTI Center-related activities.


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 = $1,356,911 )
2025	2025	THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	001	4	8/18/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,356,911
2025	2024	THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	3	3/5/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $1,356,911

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $1,466,259 )
2024	2024	THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, A COMPONENT OF THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS SYSTEM	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	002	3	9/4/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2024	2024	THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, A COMPONENT OF THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS SYSTEM	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	3	8/19/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,289,134
2024	2024	THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, A COMPONENT OF THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS SYSTEM	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	003	3	9/25/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2024	2024	THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, A COMPONENT OF THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS SYSTEM	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	001	3	8/30/2024	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$177,125
														Subtotal = $1,466,259

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $1,539,280 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	001	2	9/18/2023	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$182,349
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	2	8/31/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,356,931
														Subtotal = $1,539,280

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $1,356,890 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	1	9/20/2022	NEW	$1,356,890
														Subtotal = $1,356,890

Grand Total All Awards = $5,719,340

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Acquired Resistance to Therapy and Iron (ARTI) Center

Award Number: U54CA274220

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/20/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2027

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