# Identifying Novel Radiation Sensitizers in Cervical Cancer

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 2024 · $60,596

## Abstract

Project Summary
Cervical cancer remains a significant global cause of death in women, and 40% of women with cervical cancer
will relapse and die despite chemoradiation treatment. There is an urgent need to identify prognostic and
predictive biomarkers for chemoradiation response. We have developed and optimized a novel, non-invasive
swab-based biopsy approach to collect tissue before, during, and after chemoradiation without patient discomfort
or risks of serial biopsies such as bleeding or fistula. Despite low tumor purity, we have also developed a custom
computational pipeline to optimize mutation calling and identify clonally expanded mutations during
chemoradiation. Developing a deep understanding of genomic alterations during and after CRT to these findings
will help fast-track clinical translation of targeted therapies. To this end, we have used our pipeline in a pilot study
of 70 patients to reconstruct the evolution of mutations during CRT and identify proliferatively advantageous
driver mutations and pathways. This proposal aims to validate the candidate driver mutation lists in multiple
dimensions and develop a patient-derived organoid platform to test potential targeted therapies. First, we will
validate the preliminary identified clonally expanded genes and pathways in a larger population of already
collected but yet-to-be-sequenced samples. Second, we will perform a CRISPR/Cas9 library screen of these
preliminarily identified drivers in available cervical cancer cell lines. Simultaneously, we will develop a cervical
cancer organoid biobank to perform single-cell RNA sequencing before and after CRT and validate these
preliminarily identified genes. This platform will be used in the future to test targeted agents. When we complete
the aims of this R21, we will have validated ideal targets, developed testing platforms, and set the stage for
testing clinically impactful therapies in a future R01.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10977475
- **Project number:** 3R21CA277332-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren Elizabeth Colbert
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $60,596
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-12-07 → 2025-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10977475

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10977475, Identifying Novel Radiation Sensitizers in Cervical Cancer (3R21CA277332-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10977475. Licensed CC0.

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