Radiogenomic Characterization of EBV- and HPV-associated carcinomas in Head and Neck Cancer. Correlation with MR imaging Phenotype and Multiomics data.

• Grant number: 16/19031-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: July 01, 2017
• End date: June 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Radiology
• Principal Investigator: Murilo Bicudo Cintra
• Grantee: Murilo Bicudo Cintra
• Host Investigator: Olivier Gevaert
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Stanford University, United States

Abstract

Introduction: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an important tool for diagnosis, staging, and treatment of head and neck cancer. Recently a new methodology for correlating tumor imaging phenotype and tumor gene expression has been developed. This field is called "radiogenomics," or "imaging genomics". Its application in head and neck cancer is novel and correlations with diagnosis, management, and prognostication are largely unexplored.Objective: The aim of this study is to correlate multi-omics data, not limited to genomics but also potentially including proteomics and metabolomics, with MRI characterization of HPV and EBV-related squamous cell carcinoma at Stanford University. This research has the potential to lead to the discovery of genetic mechanisms regulating distinct tumor phenotypes and to refine MRI-based techniques as potential non-invasive approaches to probe the molecular status of a cancer and to assist with implementation of targeted therapy and "precision" medicine.Method: Quantitative MRI phenotypes of tumors (such as T2 signal, water diffusion, contrast enhancement and blood flow kinetics) will be associated with their corresponding molecular profiles (including DNA mutation, miRNA expression, protein expression, pathway gene expression and copy number variation). This type of approach has already led to successes in lung cancer and brain tumors, and we aim to extend this work to head and neck cancer.