Grant: Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Early Detection/Cancer Prevention

Detection of genetic material released by tumours into blood can be used for a non-invasive diagnosis and evaluation of response to treatment in patients with cancer. Studies of the genetic material shed by tumours into circulation can also provide new insights into molecular mechanisms that trigger the spread of cancer cells to distant sites of the body. The focus of this project is to provide better understanding of the cause of tumour dissemination through blood in patients with leiomyosarcoma, a malignant type of tumour, for which improved treatment methods are urgently needed. This new knowledge will allow for development of improved therapeutic strategies and for implementation of the blood-based tests in routine clinical care for patients with leiomyosarcoma. This proposal builds on our extensive preliminary data, as we were the first to show that the levels of tumour-derived molecules in blood correspond with response to treatment in patients with leiomyosarcoma. We also reported the first study where we combined detection of different types of genomic markers in blood to achieve a high performance of this test. In the present study, we will capitalize on these findings by developing new innovative blood tests that will allow for a simultaneous integrative detection of multiple different types of molecular markers in the blood. We envision that our project will ultimately lead to implementation of blood tests that will transform management, and improve clinical outcomes and quality of life of LMS patients. Importantly, our new technologies developed in this proposal will be also broadly applicable to advance research and therapeutic strategies in any type of cancer.