Title:
Development and Application of Imaging in Therapeutic Studies

Contact:
Anne E. Menkens, PhD
Diagnostic Imaging Program
Telephone 301-496-9531
E-mail: menkensa@dtpepn.nci.nih.gov

Objective of Project:
This initiative will encourage applications that apply imaging technologies in the assessment of investigational cancer therapeutic agents. The proposed research projects will focus on the development and application of non-invasive tools for the functional or quantitative assessment of biochemical, genetic, or pharmacologic activity of specific therapeutic agents, or the defined biochemical pathway(s) in which they act.

Description of Project:
Imaging studies have traditionally provided valuable anatomic and functional tumor information pre- and post-treatment. With new drug-development methods producing ever increasing numbers of molecules for investigation, there is a important opportunity to integrate and exploit imaging techniques in the direct assessment of this process, in either clinical or pre-clinical settings. This RFA is designed to support collaborative research projects that address the development and application of labeled therapeutic agents as compounds for imaging studies, and/or the development and application of imaging agents as metabolic markers of response to newly-developed therapeutic agents. These techniques can be applied to early clinical trials or pre-clinical studies in animal model systems.