Clinical and Biomarker Core for Tobacco Exposure and Lung Cancer Risk
Core B. Clinical & Biomarkers Core
This project collects blood and urine from smokers and former smokers to measure tobacco chemicals and how people process them.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Minnesota NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Minneapolis, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11180306 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You may be asked to visit a clinic, take small doses of safe, labeled nicotine or other tracers, and give blood and urine samples so researchers can track how your body handles tobacco chemicals. One part of the project will recruit about 400 smokers of different ethnic backgrounds to build a genetic score that predicts nicotine metabolism, and another will give labeled compounds to 50 never smokers and 50 former smokers to study metabolic and inflammatory pathways linked to lung cancer risk. Laboratory staff will measure nicotine metabolites, tobacco-specific nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon markers, metabolites of acrolein and crotonaldehyde, mercapturic acids, and urinary cadmium. The work is run from clinical sites with trained personnel who collect samples and perform detailed biomarker analyses to better understand exposure and biological effects.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults who are current daily smokers (for the nicotine metabolism genetic score) or adults who are never or former smokers (for the phenanthrene/linoleic acid study), able to travel to the study clinic and provide blood and urine samples.
Not a fit: Children, pregnant people, those unable to provide blood/urine samples, or people unwilling to take the safe tracer doses would not be eligible and are unlikely to benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help personalize quitting strategies and identify former smokers at higher risk for lung cancer.
How similar studies have performed: Measuring nicotine metabolites and the nicotine metabolite ratio is an established method, but using isotope-labeled tracers and building multi-ethnic genetic prediction scores is a more novel approach with growing evidence.
Where this research is happening
Minneapolis, United States
- University of Minnesota — Minneapolis, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hatsukami, Dorothy K — University of Minnesota
- Study coordinator: Hatsukami, Dorothy K
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 below.