Grant: Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

This project focuses on developing a new treatment monitoring technique for locally advanced breast cancer. It investigates the coincident use of sonoelastography, quantitative ultrasound and photo-acoustic imaging coupled with textural analysis techniques for the early evaluation of ultimate patient response to such treatment modalities as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Such early evaluation can be effectively used to improve treatments for patients on an individual basis. Results from this study will permit oncologists to either continue with their initially prescribed treatment regimen or modify the treatment as needed when no response is observed. The ultimate goal here is to use this method of treatment monitoring to personalize cancer therapies and permit an objective rational change of an ineffective treatment to a more effective one early on during treatment period (within days), as opposed to the time point when it is potentially too late (after several months). Personalized cancer therapy is expected to offer a considerably better prognosis for cancer patients. In addition to higher survival rates, it can also help to substantially improve the quality of life for patients during and after their treatment.