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Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the United States, and the third most common worldwide. Prostate biopsies are often performed to confirm a cancer diagnosis and examine suspect tissue. Prostate biopsies are most often performed under transrectal ultrasound imaging (TRUS) guidance. TRUS images in real-time, at relatively low cost, and shows both prostate and boundaries. However, major problems with TRUS imaging are poor spatial resolution and low sensitivity for cancer detection.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed an improved insect cell line, Tni-FNL, derived from the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni.  The Tni-FNL cell line is capable of high level expression of heterologous proteins using baculovirus-based expression systems.  When compared to commercially available cell lines used for the same purpose, the Tni-FNL cell line often outperforms those for protein expression.  These cells have a high growth rate and are capable of growth at a lower temperature.

Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) is a very common virus; nearly 80 million people—about one in four—are currently infected in the United States. HPV is a group of more than 150 related viruses. Each HPV virus in this large group is given a number which is called its HPV type. HPV is named for the warts (papillomas) some that HPV types can cause. Some other HPV types can lead to cancer, especially cervical cancer.

The AKT pathway plays a key role in the regulation of cellular survival, apoptosis, and protein translation and has been shown to have prognostic significance in a number of cancers.  Recently, the inventors have identified several functions of the AKT pathway in certain cancers, such as extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (EHCC).

The NIH Clinical Center seeks parties interested to license a method and apparatus that can significantly improve the diagnostic performance of portable chest (CXR) and abdominal x-rays.  This device (see image below) quantifies angulation of a patient to provide for a better comparison of day-to-day improvement. Potential applications include portable chest and abdominal x-rays performed at patient's hospital bedside.

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The National Cancer Institute seeks interested parties to co-develop transgenic mice having immunocompetent rat growth hormone-firefly Luciferase-enhanced green fluorescent protein.

Current methods of labeling and synthesizing RNA do not allow for multiple labels or long RNA segments to be synthesized for large RNA on a milligram scale.

The successful treatment of cancer is correlated with the early detection of the cancerous cells. Conventional cancer diagnosis is largely based on qualitative morphological criteria, but more accurate quantitative tests could greatly increase early detection of malignant cells. It has been observed that the spatial arrangement of DNA in the nucleus is altered in cancer cells in comparison to normal cells. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish malignant cells by mapping the position of labeled marker genes in the nucleus.

Researchers at the NCI Radiation Oncology Branch  and NIH CIT Center for Molecular Modeling developed a tetrahydroxamate chelation technology that provides a more-stable Zr-89 complex as an immuno-PET cancer imaging agent. In either the linear or the macrocyclic form, the tetrahydroxamate complexes exhibit greater stability as chelating agents compared to Zr-89 complexed to the siderophore desferrioxamine B (DFB), a trihydroxamate, which represent

The successful development of new cancer therapeutics requires reliable preclinical data that are obtained from mouse models for cancer. Human tumor xenografts, which require transplantation of human tumor cells into an immune compromised mouse, represent the current standard mouse model for cancer. Since the immune system plays an important role in tumor growth, progression and metastasis, the current standard mouse model is not ideal for accurate prediction of therapeutic effectiveness in patients.