NCI Begins Funding Early Detection Research Network: 18 Biomarker Developmental Laboratories Seek Tests for Common Cancers
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) today awarded nearly $8 million in grants toward the creation of a network to discover and develop new biological tests for the early detection of cancer and of biomarkers for increased cancer risk. These awards create 18 Biomarker Developmental Laboratories to identify, characterize, and refine techniques for finding molecular, genetic, and biologic early warning signals of cancer.
The laboratories are part of the Early Detection Research Network, a research collaboration to evaluate biomarkers for common cancers, such as prostate, breast, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancers. Advances in cancer research, including programs such as the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project, have uncovered a variety of molecules, proteins, genes, and other biological substances that may be the earliest warning signals that normal cells are on the road to becoming cancer. The Early Detection Research Network will translate these discoveries into methods for detecting these warning signals and ready the promising ones for testing in large-scale clinical trials.
"With the creation of the Early Detection Research Network, we are entering a new era of translational research, where the journey from the laboratory to the clinic is a coordinated, collaborative effort," said NCI Director Richard Klausner, M.D. "Ultimately, the Network will benefit patients by the rapid creation of better tests to find cancer and the discovery of points in time at which to intervene to prevent the disease."
The Biomarker Developmental Laboratories will be using a range of study designs and technologies in pursuit of developing molecular, genetic, and biologic markers. Nine of the 18 grantees will be collaborating with industry.
The Biomarker Developmental Laboratories funded by these grants are one of three scientific components of the Network's Consortium for Biomarkers in Early Detection Research. Additionally, there will be Biomarker Validation Laboratories which will develop the tests so that they can be reliably performed by multiple laboratories and Clinical and Epidemiologic Centers to study the tests in patient populations. The Network also has a Steering Committee (made up of members of the network), an Advisory Committee (made up of outside experts), and a Data Management and Coordinating Center. Awards for those parts of the Network are forthcoming.
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Biomarker Developmental Laboratory Grantees, Listed Alphabetically by State Principal Investigator
Institution
Grant Number
First Year Award | Focus of Grant | IndustrialCollaborators | Wilbur Franklin, M.D.
University of Colorado Health Science Center,
Denver, Colo.
CA85070
five-year grant
$399,741 (first year) | Lung: Use spectral image technology, differential gene expression techniques, and regular genetic and biochemical techniques to assess normal, premalignant, and malignant lung cancer cells to identify and evaluate potential biomarkers. | Spectral Imaging,
Carlsbad, Calif.COBE BCT, Inc.
Lakewood, Colo. | Jose Costa, M.D.
Yale University,
New Haven, Conn.
CA85065
three-year grant
$396,255 (first year) | Breast, Colon, Pancreas: Perform detailed mutational analysis of specific genes using a variety of technologies and developing a new technology which can detect and quantify point mutations at the cytologic level. | | Marc Lippman, M.D.
Lombardi Cancer Center
Washington, D.C.CA85082
five-year grant
$245,578 (first year) | Breast: Characterize protein expression profiles in normal breast tissue, ductal carcinoma in situ, and early invasive breast cancer to identify a protein signature associated with invasive cancer and test the feasibility of detecting such a protein easily in accessible body fluids. | | Melvin Tockman, M.D., Ph.D.
University of South Florida,
Tampa, Fla.
CA84973
five-year grant
$385,069 (first year) | Lung: Evaluate existing and potential biomarkers in archived sputum specimens from a screening trial of smokers and former smokers. | BayerPharmaceuticals,
Emoryville, Calif. | David Fishman, M.D.
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Ctr.
Northwestern University,
Evanston, Ill.
CA85133
five-year grant
$809,862 (first year) | Ovary: Determine the accurate detection of early rather than late-stage disease in asymptomatic women at increased risk. Early genetic changes and aberrant MRNA expression will be evaluated as potential biomarkers. | Atairgin Technologies, Inc.
Irvine, Calif.Circon Corp.
Santa Barbara, Calif. | David Sidransky, M.D.
Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Md.CA84986
five-year grant
$599,110 (first year) | Lung: With a focus on non-small cell lung cancer, will identify biomarkers in bronchoalveolar lavage and serum samples from lung cancer patients, to characterize and translate into clinical tests. Will develop cDNA libraries as resource. | Research Genetics, Inc.
Huntsville, Ala.Oncogene ResearchProducts,
Cambridge, Mass. Zeneca Diagnostics, U.K. | Stephen Meltzer, M.D.
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Baltimore, Md.
CA85069
five-year grant
$384,646 (first year) | Esophagus: Using the unique molecular alterations that occur during cellular progression to cancer, will develop assays to detect cancer-related proteins for diagnosis, screening, prevention, and treatment. | | Edward Highsmith, Ph.D.
University of Maryland,
School of Medicine
Baltimore, Md.
CA84988
three-year grant
$382,050 (first year) | Esophagus, Gastrointestinal Tract, and Lung: Measure telomerase activity in non-cellular fluids, such as plasma, in patients with a variety of cancers, and evaluate the utility of plasma telomerase measurements as aids in diagnosis and as a monitoring tool during therapy to predict relapse. | Advanced Bioscience Lab, Inc.
Kensington, Md. | Samir Hanash, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Mich.
CA84982
five-year grant
$463,272 (first year) | Colon, Esophagus, Liver, Lung, and Ovary: Identify tumor antigens that induce a humoral response and tumor-secreted proteins and develop assays to test the utility of markers that are found. | | David Beach, Ph.D.
Genetica, Inc.,
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.
CA84976
five-year grant
$446,741 (first year) | Breast and Colon: Create a database of expression patterns for secreted and cell surface proteins in early stage lesions of the breast and colon. | | Yingming Zhao, Ph.D.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York, N.Y.
CA85146
five-year grant
$216,104 (first year) | Ovary and Prostate: Develop protein biomarkers for early diagnosis, risk assessment, and anti-cancer drug evaluation using laser-capture microdissection and mass spectrometry. | | Jeffery Marks, Ph.D.
Duke Medical Center,
Durham, N.C.
CA84955
five-year grant
$400,000 (first year) | Breast: Identify expression-based markers for breast cancer to detect circulating breast cancer cells. Antibodies will be developed for gene products that may be secreted or presented on the cell surface. | Abbott Pharmaceuticals,
Chicago, Ill. | Timothy Block, Ph.D. Thomas Jefferson University,
Philadelphia, Pa.
CA84951
five-year grant
$327,931 (first year) | Liver: Test for serum polypeptides as potential biomarkers across the disease continuum, using people with liver cancer and those with hepatitis. | Oxford Glycosciences,
Wakefield, Mass. | William Bigbee, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, Pa.
CA84968
five-year grant
$559,290 (first year) | Colon and Lung: Develop assays to detect cancer-related proteins in body fluids and identify gene mutations. Will use SAGE, immunoassay, and PCR-based analysis. | | Bogdan Czerniak, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Texas-
M. D. Anderson,
Houston, Texas
CA85078
five-year grant
$651,147 (first year) | Bladder: Develop markers for early detection of occult urinary bladder cancer and its progression to invasive and aggressive disease. Create shared database on all tested markers and their performance as diagnostic probes. | | Adi Gazdar, M.D.
University of Texas-Southwestern,
Dallas, Texas
CA84971
five-year grant
$430,454 (first year) | Lung: Using tumor DNA extracted from plasma, will look for molecular changes. Markers to be studied include onset of clonality, alleleic losses at multiple regions, microsatellite alterations, and the presence of aberrantly methylated genes. Create specimen repository. | | George Wright, Jr., Ph.D.
Eastern Virginia
Medical School
Norfolk, Va.
CA85067
five-year grant
$345,773 (first year) | Breast and Prostate: Use customized protein chips in proteomic analysis based on Surface Enhanced Laser Ionization/Desorption (SELDI) to identify biomarkers for the detection of prostate and breast cancers at different stages of the progression to cancer. | Ciphergen
Biosystems, Inc.
Palo Alto, Calif.Arcturus Engineering, Inc.
Mountain View, Calif. | Nancy Kiviat, M.D.
University of Washington,
Seattle, Wash.
CA85050
five-year grant
$408,070 (first year) | Multiple Sites: Develop assays to detect cancer-related proteins in body fluids and tissues, and determine which secreted proteins correlate with cancerous or precancerous lesions. | ORCA Biosciences, Inc.
Seattle, Wash.Corixa
Seattle, Wash. |
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