# Automated Volumetric Molecular Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Imaging

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $556,531

## Abstract

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States. While
mammography is the current first line imaging approach, its diagnostic accuracy is very limited in women with
dense breast tissue. In those patients, ultrasound is used to supplement mammography for improved breast
cancer detection and characterization. However, it often results in false positive findings with multiple
unnecessary callbacks, biopsies, associated health care cost, and psychological stress for women. Ultrasound
molecular imaging using contrast agents targeted at cancer-associated molecular signatures on the tumor
neovasculature, such as kinase domain receptor (KDR), is an emerging strategy that has shown promising
results for breast cancer detection and characterization in preclinical animal models as well as in a recent pilot
clinical trial performed by our group. However, current limitations include its operator-dependency, limited
anatomical coverage, and the lack of an optimized clinical imaging system for wide-spread breast ultrasound
molecular imaging. The purpose of this interdisciplinary, academic-industrial collaboration between Stanford
University and Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. is to develop, optimize, and clinically test a new operator-
independent whole-breast ultrasound imaging system based on a commercially available and widely used
automated human breast volume scanner (ABVS), supporting molecular imaging for improved breast cancer
imaging in the clinic. We will also develop imaging strategies to mitigate common artifacts encountered in
ultrasound molecular imaging of the breast, including spurious contrast signal from tissue signal leakage and
acoustic shadowing from the nipple. To assess feasibility and efficacy in the clinic, the new volumetric ultrasound
molecular imaging system will then be clinically tested in women with focal breast lesions using histology and
KDR staining levels on immunohistochemistry as gold standard. The technology used in this proposal can be
integrated on similar other commercial devices beyond the ABVS (in the USA alone, approximately 1600 units
are already used in routine clinical practice) and will therefore have immediate impact on the general public.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9989588
- **Project number:** 5R01CA218204-04
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** BRUCE L DANIEL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $556,531
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9989588

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9989588, Automated Volumetric Molecular Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Imaging (5R01CA218204-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9989588. Licensed CC0.

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