DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT CANCER RESEARCH NIH GUIDE, Volume 26, Number 6, February 21, 1997 P.T. 34 Keywords: Cancer/Carcinogenesis Nucleic Acids Biotechnology National Cancer Institute Annual Receipt Dates: April 1, August 1 and December 1 for STTR April 15, August 15, and December 15 for SBIR PURPOSE The purpose of this notice is to emphasize the importance of this research topic, development of novel technologies to support cancer research, to the Technology Development Branch of the Cancer Diagnosis Program, Division of Cancer Treatment, Diagnosis and Centers (DCTDC), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). This research topic is of special interest to the NCI, NIH, and is identified in the OMNIBUS SOLICITATION OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH FOR SBIR GRANT APPLICATIONS (PHS 97-2) on pages 64-65. This notice is intended to encourage projects that propose development of technologies in two areas: the generation of representational full length cDNA libraries and the development of high throughput technologies for analysis of the spectrum of molecular alterations in primary tumor tissues. Investigators may propose projects to develop and/or to implement one of these technologies. Ultimately the technologies or resources developed with the technologies must be commercially viable and preferably useful within a clinical setting. Through the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) mechanisms, small businesses can receive funding for early phase development of innovative technologies and proof of principle studies leading toward commercialization of these technologies. The solicitations are available electronically through the NIH, Office of Extramural Research "Small Business Funding Opportunities" home page located at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm. In addition, a limited number of hard copies of the solicitations have been produced. Subject to availability, they may be obtained from the PHS STTR/SBIR Solicitation Office, phone (301) 206-9385; fax (301) 206-9722; Email: a2y@cu.nih.gov. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The rapid increase in our understanding of tumor biology coupled with the technology and data emerging from the human genome project, offer the opportunity for a change in the way cancer research is done. It is becoming clear that cancer is not a single disease but many, and that cancers arise from the gradual accumulation of genetic changes in single cells. It is not clear which changes and how many changes are required to cause a cancerous state. Technologies that make possible the evaluation of multiple alterations in tumor tissue at the level of DNA, RNA or protein will facilitate the identification of genes involved in cancer and will provide diagnostic and prognostic information useful for cancer patient management. This notice is intended to encourage technology development projects in the following two categories: representational, full length cDNA libraries and high throughput technologies for analysis of the spectrum of molecular alterations in primary tumor tissues Representational, Full-Length cDNA Libraries: Current technology for generating cDNA libraries allows the production of representative libraries of partial genes or production of more limited libraries of full length clones, which are generally enriched for shorter genes. In addition, technology exists to create normalized (reduced redundancy) cDNA libraries. However, it is not currently possible to efficiently generate representational libraries of full length cDNAs. In order to derive the maximum benefit from existing libraries and to find expressed genes not present in existing libraries, new technologies for generating full length representational cDNA libraries are necessary. Investigators may propose to develop the novel technologies for generating these libraries or, if they have existing, proven technologies for this purpose, they may propose to generate appropriate libraries using their existing technology. Approaches for demonstrating that the clones in the libraries encode the entire sequence of the mRNA from which they were derived and contain a representative sample of the original mRNA population of the selected tissue must be described. Investigators may also propose to develop technologies for generating libraries which are enriched for genes differentially expressed from appropriate tissues. Appropriate tissues are those which will provide information about gene expression during cancer initiation and/or progression. In all cases, the end result must be a technique or a resource which can be made into a commercially viable product. For example, applicants applying through the STTR mechanism may propose to move technology previously developed at an academic institution to a small business for the purpose of producing specific libraries. Applicants applying through the SBIR mechanism may propose, for example, to develop novel technologies for the construction of the cDNA libraries and to commercialize either the methodology or the resulting libraries. The most desirable technologies will be those which are adaptable to high-throughput systems. High-Throughput Analysis of Tissue Samples: Previous studies designed to correlate molecular alterations in tumors with clinical parameters have suggested the potential importance of measuring these changes as a part of clinical decision-making. The sequencing of the human genome and ongoing development of technologies to analyze genetic alterations on a genome-wide scale may soon make it feasible to simultaneously evaluate all or a subset of the nucleic acid alterations in tumor tissue. Similar technologies to detect patterns of protein expression or to detect changes in proteins functioning in pathways of cellular regulation are also needed. The continuing development of both nucleic acid and protein based technologies will facilitate the discovery of new alterations in tumor cells and, ultimately, the rapid collection of diagnostic and prognostic information that may be useful in cancer patient management. Investigators should propose development of nucleic acid or protein based technologies and studies to assess their use in analysis of primary tumor specimens. They may propose to develop a high-throughput technology to characterize cancers at the molecular level, to modify existing technologies for use in a clinical setting, or to commercialize technologies that currently exist only in a laboratory setting. For example, applicants applying through he SBIR mechanism might develop a high-throughput technology then collaborate with an academic institution to procure appropriate tissue samples for validation of their technology on clinical specimens. Applicants applying through the STTR mechanism might propose to move technologies developed in an academic setting for the high-throughput screening of tissue samples into the development of commercial kits or devices. Technologies may be designed to analyze a variety of alterations including genome-wide cytogenetic changes; mutations in constellations of genes known to be important in tumor initiation and progression, including genes that are members of pathways of cellular regulation; analysis of all possible mutations in a single gene; changes in patterns of gene expression at the level of both RNA and protein; or changes in protein function. Development of sample preparation technologies and/or informatics systems to support collection and evaluation of research data may also be proposed. INQUIRIES Inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Jennifer Couch, Ph.D. Division of Cancer Treatment, Diagnosis and Centers National Cancer Institute 6130 Executive Boulevard, Room 513, MSC 7388 Bethesda, MD 20892-7388 Telephone: (301) 496-1591 FAX: (301) 402-1037 Email: couchj@dcbdcep.nci.nih.gov Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Ms. Kathleen Shino Grants Management Office National Cancer Institute 6120 Executive Boulevard, Room 243 Bethesda, MD 20892-7150 Telephone: (301) 496-7800, ext. 248 FAX: (301) 496-8601 Email: ks48e@nih.gov .
Return to NIH Guide Main Index
Office of Extramural Research (OER) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) |
||||||||
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files. |