# Intraoperative Near Infrared Molecular Imaging of Lung Cancer

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $109,861

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a devastating disease with a poor outcome. When a patient is
first diagnosed with NSCLC, the person would typically undergo diagnostic bronchoscopy and/or
therapeutic surgery. These two procedures have technical challenges that limit their success such as
inaccurate biopsies, failure to locate nodules and lymph nodes, missed occult tumors, and positive
margins. As a consequence, there is a 40% failure rate for these procedures. This Project will use
optical imaging in the near-infrared (NIR) range to generate practical solutions to these problems and
make these two common procedures safer, more efficient, and have improved outcomes. The goal of
this Project is to test the hypothesis that intraoperative imaging in the NIR spectrum with targeted
molecular tracers can identify tumor cells in order to improve procedures that are utilized for the
management of patients with NSCLC. The innovation of this Program Project will be in the matrix of
cocktail dye development, new NIR camera devices, and clinical translation. There are three specific
goals of this Project. First, to develop a set of targeted near-infrared molecular imaging contrast agents
that are sensitive and specific to a range of distinct targets on NSCLC. Second, to develop and integrate
highly NIR spectral sensitive imaging platforms into commonly used white light imaging devices so they
can be utilized during clinical procedures. And third, to apply these innovations to solve common clinical
problems in order to impact patient care. If successful, the molecular optical imaging solution presented
in this proposal would be immediately applicable to several hundred thousand lung cancer patients
each year.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10977261
- **Project number:** 3P01CA254859-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Sunil Singhal
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $109,861
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-06-16 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10977261

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10977261, Intraoperative Near Infrared Molecular Imaging of Lung Cancer (3P01CA254859-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10977261. Licensed CC0.

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