AI tool to predict chemotherapy response for brain tumors
Official title: Artificial Intelligence-based decision support for chemotherapy-response assessment in Brain Tumors
Funded at Wm S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hosp · NIH-11130949 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will build an AI tool to help doctors predict which people with glioblastoma are unlikely to benefit from chemotherapy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wm S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hosp NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Madison, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| NIH project number | 5I01BX005842-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11130949 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with glioblastoma—especially Veterans treated at the Madison VA—who have had surgery and routine post-treatment MRI and clinical follow-up.
✕Less likely to help
People without glioblastoma, those without the required imaging or clinical/genomic records, or those already ineligible for alternative therapies may not directly benefit from this work.
What this research studies
I have glioblastoma and after surgery I may be offered radiation plus chemotherapy. The team will use past and new patient MRIs, clinical records, and genomic information from Veterans to train an artificial intelligence system to spot patterns linked to chemo response and to tell tumor return from treatment-related changes. They will test the tool on existing data and in patients seen at the Madison VA to see how well it matches real outcomes. The aim is to guide treatment choices and cut down on unnecessary biopsies and ineffective chemotherapy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the tool could spare patients from toxic, ineffective chemotherapy, reduce unnecessary diagnostic biopsies, and help match people to better treatment options sooner.
How similar studies have gone: Some AI and imaging-biomarker work has shown promise for distinguishing tumor progression from treatment effects and for outcome prediction, but reliable upfront prediction of chemotherapy non-response is still largely experimental.
Where this research is happening
-
Wm S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hosp
Madison, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tiwari, Pallavi — Wm S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hosp
- Study coordinator: Tiwari, Pallavi
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Using artificial intelligence to improve chemotherapy decisions for brain tumor patients
This study is testing a new AI system that helps doctors figure out which glioblastoma patients, especially veterans, might not benefit from standard chemotherapy, so they can find better treatment options and avoid unnecessary costs and procedures.
-
Using localized chemotherapy to boost the immune response against brain tumors
This study is looking at how giving chemotherapy directly to the brain tumor can help boost the immune system's ability to fight glioblastoma, and it’s designed for patients with this type of brain cancer who want to explore new treatment options that might have fewer side effects.
-
Photodynamic lipids to boost chemotherapy for metastatic ovarian cancer
A patient-friendly approach tests a light-activated method to make ovarian cancer metastases more sensitive to chemotherapy.
-
Dual targeting of heart cell receptors to prevent chemotherapy heart damage
Atrial patients receiving the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin may be protected from heart damage by targeting two heart cell receptors at once.
-
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.
-
ONC206 for children with brain tumors: a first-in-children trial
A first-in-children trial will test the safety and early signs of effectiveness of ONC206, taken by mouth, in kids with malignant brain tumors like diffuse midline gliomas.
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.