# High-Throughput Screening and Validation of Molecular Targeted Chemoradiosensitizers

> **NIH NIH U01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2021 · $753,506

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Preclinical and clinical development of molecular targeted drugs with radiation therapy (RT) and
chemotherapy are critically important for improving the outcomes of patients with hard-to-treat cancers.
However, a huge body of preclinical drug/RT studies has not translated into an adequate number of successful
radiation oncology trials. Major contributing factors include poor reproducibility of preclinical data, insufficient
preclinical modeling of inter-tumoral genomic heterogeneity that influences treatment sensitivity in the clinic,
and reliance on tumor growth delay instead of local tumor control (TCD50) endpoints. There exists an urgent
need to overcome these barriers to successful clinical translation of targeted chemoradiosensitizers. We
propose to establish an integrated in-vitro/in-vivo pipeline for chemoradiosensitizing targeted drugs that are
biomarker-correlated and appropriately validated, so that subsequent clinical drug/RT trials in patients with
hard-to-treat cancers will have a substantially higher probability of success than in the past. To achieve this,
we propose 3 Specific Aims. First, by leveraging the unique expertise and resources that the Genomics of
Drug Sensitivity in Cancer project (Massachusetts General Hospital & UK Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute)
and the German Cancer Research Center/Cancer Consortium (DKFZ/DKTK) offer, we will conduct a robotic
high-throughput screen of cancer cell lines grown in an extracellular-matrix (ECM) based 3D format to better
mimic in-vivo growth conditions. We propose to screen about half of the current CTEP portfolio (30 drugs)
combined with fractionated irradiation across an initial panel of 100 annotated cell lines selected to represent
clinically relevant inter-tumoral genomic variation. Second, we propose a systematic and stepwise
validation/refinement process to nominate CTEP drugs that have the highest likelihood to succeed in animal
testing. This will include 3D colony formation assays, addition of disease-specific chemotherapy, confirmation
of pharmacodynamic responses, target/biomarker validation, and integration of patient-derived cell lines and
xenografts. Third, we will evaluate the chemoradiosensitizing effects of the most promising CTEP drugs in-vivo
by relying on TCD50 assays in mouse xenograft models with/without biomarker and utilizing clinically relevant
RT fractionation (30 fractions/6 weeks). These experiments again will leverage special DKFZ/DKTK capability.
The proposed studies are directly relevant to the objectives of the underlying FOA, as we will, in close
collaboration with investigators within and outside the consortium, accelerate the pace at which targeted
chemoradiation treatments with greater efficacy are identified. This undertaking will be greatly facilitated by the
integration of a foreign project component where DKFZ/DKTK investigators contribute special expertise in 3D
ECM and TCD50 assays at low budget cost, which will directly and d...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10194409
- **Project number:** 5U01CA220714-04
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Aaron N Hata
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $753,506
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10194409

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10194409, High-Throughput Screening and Validation of Molecular Targeted Chemoradiosensitizers (5U01CA220714-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10194409. Licensed CC0.

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