3D ultrasound to detect early chemotherapy response in breast cancer
Official title: Developing a quantitative ultrasound breast scanner for identifying early response of breast cancer to chemotherapy
Funded at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · NIH-11145753 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A 3D ultrasound scanner will be used to find whether a patient's breast cancer is responding to chemotherapy soon after treatment starts.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Champaign, United States) |
| Project start | August 18, 2022 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $365,772 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA273700-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11145753 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with diagnosed breast cancer who are starting neoadjuvant (pre-surgery) chemotherapy and can attend repeated ultrasound imaging visits.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not receiving chemotherapy, those with tumors not visible by ultrasound, or those unable to undergo repeated breast imaging may not benefit from this approach.
What this research studies
You would receive 3D scans with a QT Ultrasound tomographic breast scanner that produces quantitative images like sound speed and reflectivity. The team will add new imaging modes that use quantitative ultrasound backscatter to look for tissue changes soon after chemotherapy begins. Patients will be scanned before treatment and at early time points during therapy, and those images will be compared with pathology and clinical outcomes to see if early changes predict response. The scanner is FDA cleared and aims to provide more accurate volumetric measurements than conventional handheld ultrasound.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could let doctors know within weeks whether chemotherapy is working so treatment can be adjusted sooner.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier pilot work using hand-held quantitative ultrasound backscatter showed promising early indicators of chemotherapy response, and this project builds on that work with 3D tomographic imaging.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Oelze, Michael L. — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Study coordinator: Oelze, Michael L.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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A 3D ultrasound scanner to see early chemotherapy response in breast cancer
A new 3D ultrasound imaging method will be tested to see if it can quickly show whether breast cancer is responding to chemotherapy.
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3D ultrasound method to see early breast cancer response to chemotherapy
A new 3D ultrasound imaging method is being tested to quickly tell if breast cancer is responding to chemotherapy, using a FDA-cleared scanner at an affordable cost.
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3D ultrasound to detect early breast tumor response to chemotherapy
A 3D quantitative ultrasound scanner will be used to detect early changes in breast tumors during chemotherapy for people with breast cancer.
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Creating a new ultrasound scanner to detect how well breast cancer responds to chemotherapy
This study is testing a new type of ultrasound scanner that creates detailed 3D images of breast tumors to help doctors see how well chemotherapy is working for breast cancer patients, aiming to catch changes earlier than traditional methods.
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Magnetic resonance fingerprinting to gauge chemotherapy response in breast cancer
A patient-facing look at using a special MRI method (MRF) to see early whether breast cancer is responding to preliminary chemotherapy.
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Understanding how chemotherapy affects breast cancer spread and liver immunity
A research project looks at how standard breast cancer chemotherapy may change the immune system and cancer spread, especially to the liver, in people with aggressive breast cancer.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.