University of Illinois Cancer Center members Kejia Cai, PhD, and Ron Gaba, MD, are Principal Investigators on a $3.1 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to investigate the ability of advanced endogenous molecular MRI imaging techniques to noninvasively provide insights into liver cancer tumor biology. Cai is project leader on the five-year NCI grant.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or primary liver cancer, results in considerable worldwide illness and death worldwide, especially when it grows beyond the original location and spreads within the liver. Advances in HCC diagnostics and treatment are highly dependent on the development of new systems to better understand cancer growth. The aim of this research study is to utilize a pig HCC model to investigate the ability of advanced imaging techniques to noninvasively provide insights into HCC tumor biology, with the overall goal of incorporating these techniques into clinical management to improve diagnosis, treatment, and treatment response monitoring for liver cancer patients.
Cai is an Associate Professor and Gaba is a Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Illinois College Chicago at UIC. Gaba also practices in the Division of Interventional Radiology at UI Health.