Thanks to a recent $7.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, a Northwestern University professor will literally shine a light on colon cancer.
Over the next five years, McCormick School of Engineering Professor Vadim Backman will be conducting further research and clinical trials on an optical technology that he hopes will eventually be used in the medical mainstream as a routine colon pre-screen for patients.
The multi-faceted grant will be used to launch clinical trials at four different sites. The clinical core will be at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, while other trials will be conducted at the University of Chicago, Indiana University and Stanford University. The grant will also fund further research on the actual scientific mechanisms at work.
In Backman's current trials, a simple fiber optic probe is inserted into the rectum. Light is scattered on the surrounding rectal tissue, and the resulting fingerprint is then analyzed. It is a minimally invasive procedure.
The optical technology is based on the biological phenomenon of the "field effect," which indicates that if a patient has a precancerous or cancerous lesion somewhere in the colon there are some very subtle changes that can be seen biologically throughout the entire organ, not just at the site of the polyp.
The advantage of Backman's technology is that it is very sensitive to small structures. Perturbations such as slight changes in blood supply or the microarchitecture of cells, otherwise invisible under a microscope, will be illuminated and observed.
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in the United States according to the NCI. "It's a shame people die from colon cancer because it's preventable," said Backman. "There are other cancers that are more difficult to find and treat."
Hemant K. Roy, M.D., who has worked closely with Backman and will be leading the clinical trials at his ENH site, hopes that the pre-screen will help better select the patients who need further examination. "We hope that this research will validate that a simple approach could be useful in detecting the risk of colon cancer and help target the percentage of the population that actually needs a colonoscopy," said Roy.
Backman said that there is potential to expand this pre-screening technology to other organs, including the lungs and pancreas. "That's the vision I have. You go in to see a primary care physician annually, and he or she exposes your cells to these fiber optics and screens you for several major cancers in one visit."
In previous trials of 1000 patients, there were no risks identified. Backman predicts that if his technology is eventually used in clinical practice, routine pre-screens will start for patients over the age of 50 unless there is a family history of colon cancer.
Backman, who began researching at Northwestern University's Biophotonics Lab upon his arrival in 2001, received the NCI grant after applying a first time and being turned down.
"The success rate of being funded for these grants is probably in the 20% range," said Susan Ross, director of the Office for Sponsored Research. "These are all people who are highly qualified and have a lot of creative ideas."
There was $1.2 billion worth of proposals submitted last year, and Northwestern faculty members were awarded $416.4 million.
In his seven years at Northwestern, Professor Backman has received a total of 37 awards as a principal investigator of studies. "He is outstanding. He's very thoughtful and really a delight to work with," said Roy.
elizabethclark2010@u.northwestern.edu
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