# Improving Survival in Oral Cancer by Disruption of Tumor Progression

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $1,013,126

## Abstract

ABSTRACT/ PROJECT SUMMARY
Invasion is required for development and spread of head and neck cancer (HNC) but unfortunately there are
no strategies that effectively target invasion. This knowledge gap is due to limited progress in identifying and
understanding the underlying mechanisms that control invasion. While progress has been made in establishing
that epithelial to mesenchymal transition in HNC cells allows them to spread and become resistant to
treatment, critical mechanistic links are unknown. It is also unclear which tumors will spread and become
resistant to treatment. Given the continued poor survival of patients with HNC, this project will address the
following questions: 1) what are the mechanisms that encourage HNC to spread; 2) how is HNC protected
from radiation and who is at risk for developing resistance; and 3) how does HNC recur. This work will provide
the foundation for novel mechanism-based treatment strategies to improve the survival of patients with HNC.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10173748
- **Project number:** 5R35DE027551-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Nisha J D'Silva
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,013,126
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-14 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10173748

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10173748, Improving Survival in Oral Cancer by Disruption of Tumor Progression (5R35DE027551-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10173748. Licensed CC0.

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