# Simultaneous Thermal and Osmotic Stresses in Tumor Ablation: Imaging and Biology

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 2020 · $365,719

## Abstract

Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a lethal disease and the fastest growing type of cancer in the United States. Most
patients are not candidates for surgery and medical therapy has only recently achieved a limited survival
benefit of 2-3 months with sorafenib. This drug is costly and has a number of side effects limiting its
acceptance and impact. Locoregional therapies treating tumor in situ likewise have limitations, although the
survival benefit is generally longer. Major clinical weaknesses of existing therapies such as ablation and
embolization are incomplete treatment and local recurrence. In the current proposal, we seek to harness the
exothermic chemical reaction between an acid and a base to release heat and a salt at high local
concentration to kill tumor tissue. We hypothesize that the combination of simultaneous thermal and osmotic
stress is highly effective in killing tumor cells and that the process can be imaged and controlled. In the first aim
we propose to perform MRI temperature imaging to map the thermal dose, combined with multi-gradient echo
recall chemical shift imaging to map the salt with high temporal resolution, and sodium MRI to map the
concentration of the sodium in the treated volume. In the second aim we will perform in vitro experiments on
tumor cell lines to understand how cells respond to this kind of combined stress and interrogate likely pathways
for future intervention. In the final aim we propose to test the concept in vivo using the rabbit VX2 tumor model,
which is large enough to allow for the thermal and sodium imaging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9965803
- **Project number:** 5R01CA201127-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** ERIK N CRESSMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $365,719
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-14 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9965803

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9965803, Simultaneous Thermal and Osmotic Stresses in Tumor Ablation: Imaging and Biology (5R01CA201127-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9965803. Licensed CC0.

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