Contact:
Karl Krueger, Ph.D.
Program Director, Cancer Biomarkers Research Group
Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute
6130 Executive Plaza North, Suite 3136
Bethesda, MD 20892
Voice 301-594-1044
FAX 301-402-8990
E-mail: kruegerk@mail.nih.gov
Objective of Project:
The Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP), National Cancer Institute (NCI), invites new U01 applications to participate in an Alliance with a translational emphasis focused on discovery, development, and clinical validation of glycan-based cancer biomarkers. The primary objective of this initiative is to solicit applications using glycomic technologies to develop oligosaccharide biomarkers for early detection of cancer with application to diagnostic testing. A secondary objective of this initiative is to facilitate collaborations between carbohydrate chemists, glycobiologists, clinicians, and other professionals to foster interdisciplinary efforts to bring cancer biomarkers founded on complex carbohydrate structures through the maturation process to clinical validation using resources of the Early Detection Research Network. In partnership with the National Institute of General Medical Sciences-supported Consortium for Functional Glycomics and various centers of the National Center for Research Resources, a menu of resources and services in analytical carbohydrate chemistry will be made available. In response to this initiative, investigators may propose to identify unique glycans, tumor specific glycan profiles, or aberrant glycoforms of defined glycoproteins, proteoglycans or glycolipids from human tumor-related specimens. Other novel and innovative strategies probing the tumor glycome for diagnostic testing are welcomed. The utility of these biomarkers will then be evaluated for diagnosis and early detection of cancer or cancer risk
Description of Project:
The current state of the field suggests that changes in glycan expression ensue as a result of oncogenic transformation for most, if not all, cancers. Studies to systematically identify and exploit cancer-specific glycan biomarkers are urgently needed to demonstrate the promise complex carbohydrates offers in cancer diagnostics. The most candid response to this initiative would involve structural determinations of glycans found in tumor-related specimens. Related approaches might include glycome profiling to identify tumor-related signatures or identification of aberrant oligosaccharide structures found on specific glycol-conjugates. This initiative is expected to attract a variety of platforms and approaches among the RFA respondents that exploit glycan structures for the purpose of bringing new cancer biomarkers forward to clinical validation.