This latest project advances a longstanding collaboration between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Albany School of Medicine.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Albany College of Medicine have invested 3.3 million over five years from the National Cancer Institute to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to improve targeted drug therapy in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. won a dollar grant. HER2-positive breast cancer tends to grow and metastasize rapidly, but targeted therapy improves outcomes.
The research was led by Xavier Intes, Rensselaer Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Co-Director of the Center for Medical Modeling, Simulation and Imaging, and Margarida Barroso, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Director of the Imaging Core Facility in Albany. I’m here. medical college. Supported by six major grants, RPI and Albany College of Medicine have been collaborating continuously for more than a decade focused on treatments that improve human health. This grant promotes collaboration using the latest AI tools.
Targeted agents are an important part of many cancer treatments to increase specificity and reduce negative side effects. However, resistance to targeted therapies often develops, preventing long-term disease-free survival for many patients.
This grant will fund research in HER2-positive breast cancer, where intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) and microenvironmental factors, where cells within the same tumor have different profiles, are proposed to play an important role in treatment failure. offer. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying HER2 therapy resistance and their relationship to ITH and the host and tumor microenvironment is therefore essential for the development of new strategies to improve patient outcomes.
There is a lack of preclinical longitudinal noninvasive imaging approaches that can analyze and quantify heterogeneity at the level of multiple tumor features such as drug-HER2 binding, glucose metabolism levels, and vasculature. Currently, these parameters can only be assessed by extracorporeal invasive means using tissue resected from and returned to the patient.
“Through our study, we developed a novel mesoscopic and multimodal preclinical imaging approach to test the hypothesis that the distribution of antibody-based therapeutics across tumors mediates not only drug efficacy but also the emergence of tumor resistance. I will,” said Professor Intes.
The research team plans to use mesoscopic fluorescence molecular tomography (MFMT) to analyze tumor heterogeneity at near-cell-scale resolution in live, intact animals.
Barroso will also work with Sandra Singh, M.D., Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Albany Medical Center to link histopathology with these new optical imaging approaches.
“Ultimately, this imaging technology will allow biologists and clinicians to see exactly how drugs bind to tumors, and how tumors adapt or change during treatment. I hope that we will be able to understand it better,” Barroso said. “This could help determine the effectiveness of specific drugs against specific tumors, a key component in tackling drug resistance.”
“For more than a decade, NCI has recognized the importance of cross-institutional collaboration and the unique skills and expertise that each investigator brings to the collaboration,” said Alan S. Bouros, M.D., Ph.D. In 1994, The Lin and Mark Groban added, MD ’67 Dean, Albany Medical School. “The research supported by this new grant will have a major impact on the future of cancer diagnosis and treatment.”
“We all know that there are people living with breast cancer because it is such a prevalent disease,” said Shekhar Garde, dean of the Rensselaer School of Engineering. “I am delighted that the doctors have done so. Intes and Barroso are combining the power of engineering and medicine with the latest artificial intelligence tools to advance our understanding of this particularly virulent form and help patients improve the quality of life of
RPI contact:
Katie Maratino
Senior Communications Specialist
[email protected]
838-240-5691
Albany Medical Center contact information:
Cathy Nelson
communication manager
[email protected]
518-262-3421