Matching lab lung cancer models to real patient tumors
Construction of A Lung Cancer Preclinical Model Cross-comparison Platform
This project builds a user-friendly tool that compares laboratory models with real lung tumors to help researchers pick the best models for developing treatments for people with lung cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ut Southwestern Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Dallas, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11177605 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will combine gene-level molecular data and digitized pathology images from thousands of patient tumors with similar data from many lab models of lung cancer. They will use automated image-processing and algorithmic analysis to extract features from pathology slides and align those features with molecular profiles. The platform will display how closely each lab model matches different types of patient tumors to guide model selection for experiments. Better model choices could make lab findings more relevant to patients and speed development of effective therapies.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with lung cancer whose tumor samples or clinical data are in research datasets or pathology archives could potentially have their tumors represented in this platform.
Not a fit: People without lung cancer or whose tumors are not included in the available datasets are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could help scientists choose lab models that more closely reflect patients' tumors, improving the relevance and speed of developing new lung cancer treatments.
How similar studies have performed: The team previously created a lung cancer data explorer and used digital pathology algorithms to find image features linked to outcomes, but extending those tools to systematically compare lab models with patient tumors is a new step.
Where this research is happening
Dallas, United States
- Ut Southwestern Medical Center — Dallas, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Cai, Ling — Ut Southwestern Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Cai, Ling
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.