Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center received a $709,677 Project Grant from the National Cancer Institute under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) on June 5, 2026, to develop and validate advanced imaging technologies for improved prostate cancer mapping and treatment planning. The research focuses on integrating quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (QMRI) and prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET) imaging to address the limitations of current multiparametric MRI (MPMRI), which fails to detect more than 30% of high-grade tumors. The project will optimize a novel MR multitasking technique to simultaneously acquire coregistered prostate T1, T2, and apparent diffusion coefficient maps, combined with a high-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging sequence that improves spatial resolution five-fold. Machine learning algorithms will analyze the coregistered QMRI and PSMA-PET data to create empirically derived tumor detection and characterization visualizations to support focal ablation treatment planning decisions.

The five-year project, with a completion date of May 31, 2031, addresses a critical clinical need in prostate cancer treatment by improving the accuracy of partial gland ablation tumor mapping. This research is aligned with the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program's objective to develop accurate diagnostic techniques and methods for determining the presence and predicting the course of cancer. The advanced imaging approach is expected to enhance clinicians' ability to detect the full burden of disease and create more precise ablation plans that minimize unnecessary treatment of healthy tissue while reducing morbidity associated with radical therapies.