Characterization of diverse pediatric cancers in lmic using low-cost nanopore sequencing

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
R01CA293366
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$3,595,681

Award facts

Assistance listing
93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research
Completion date 47% complete
Place of performance
Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract
Virtually fatal 60 years ago, pediatric cancers are now curable for 85% of children who have access to contemporary treatments and robust supportive care. However, for the 80% of children born in low and middle- income countries (LMIC), the picture is less promising. When viewed from a global perspective, only 30% of children in LMIC will survive their diagnosis of cancer, highlighting the stark contrast between high-income countries (HIC) and LMIC and representing one of the largest disparities in global health. While curable, cancers in children are not preventable. With no opportunities for prevention, but cost-effective malignancy-specific treatments increasingly available, an accurate diagnosis often represents the difference between potential survival and certain death. Modern methods to ascertain a correct diagnosis, such as flow- cytometry, cytogenetics, and molecular genomics, are standard of care in HIC, but unavailable for many LMIC treatment centers. Transformative diagnostic approaches utilizing cost-effective, scalable technology are urgently needed. As genomic sequencing platforms become more accessible and analytical capabilities expand, integrating sequencing into childhood cancer diagnostics represents an opportunity to overcome the global "pathology GAP." classification of pediatric cancers using short-read RNA sequencing is established in research settings, but the capital and maintenance expenses of this approach are prohibitive for most LMIC. However, nanopore sequencing platforms require minimal capital investment and limited lab infrastructure, providing an opportunity for cost-effective, scalable molecular diagnostic technology in pediatric cancer treatment centers. We propose to establish and validate robust classification models for pediatric leukemias, extracranial solid tumors, and lymphomas using nanopore sequencing. We will leverage the close partnership between investigators at the university of north carolina at chapel hill, ST. Jude children's research hospital, and indus hospital and healthcare network in pakistan to optimize technical and analytics methodologies for nanopore sequencing of challenging samples, specifically formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded specimens. We will harden existing protocols for deployment in LMIC and incorporate our analytic pipeline into integrated nanopore sequencing and base-calling hardware as a step toward affordable point-of-care cancer diagnostics for end users. Our objective is to develop and validate a cost-effective, sustainable, adaptable solution for the clinically relevant diagnosis and core genomic classification for childhood cancers in LMIC using a globally accessible platform.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $1,770,936
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $598,403
Amendment $598,403
Original award $627,939

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
ST Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc. PTE and Subrecipient acknowledge that the project funded under this Subaward is one discrete piece of a larger ongoing project. St. Jude’s existing molecular… $92,975
ST Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc. Working collaboratively St. Jude Children's Research Hospital research team will coordinate, oversee and contribute its expertise to meet the aims of the… $185,950
Indus Hospital & Health Network The objective of the project at IHHN would be to validate the use of the low-cost Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing for lineage specification and risk… $120,816

Quick answers

Who received award R01CA293366?

R01CA293366 was awarded to University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill by National Cancer Institute (National Institutes of Health) on July 15, 2024.

How much is award R01CA293366 worth?

$3,595,681 has been obligated on R01CA293366.

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