{"685734":{"#nid":"685734","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cancer Atlas Offers a Roadmap to Detecting Tumors Earlier Than Ever","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/09\/50m-cancer-moonshot-grant-will-build-atlas-earlier-cancer-detection\u0022\u003EWhen a Georgia Tech-led project received a contract award\u003C\/a\u003E from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arpa-h.gov\/\u0022\u003EAdvanced Research Projects Agency for Health\u003C\/a\u003E (ARPA-H), it was for a bold idea with aggressive metrics. And it wasn\u2019t guaranteed money. The team, led by biomedical engineer \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Gabe-A.-Kwong\u0022\u003EGabe Kwong\u003C\/a\u003E, had to deliver on its vision. Doing so could transform cancer screening and care, leading to one-size-fits-all tests that detect multiple cancers before they\u2019re visible on CT or PET scans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s a big goal, but that\u2019s the point of ARPA-H. The agency funds staggeringly difficult healthcare innovation ideas that require major investment to succeed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETwo years into the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arpa-h.gov\/explore-funding\/awardees#:~:text=Cancer%20and%20Organ-,Degradome,-Atlas%20to%20Unlock\u0022\u003E$49.5 million project\u003C\/a\u003E, Kwong and the team from Georgia Tech, Columbia University, and Mount Sinai Health System has crossed a critical threshold.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey\u2019ve built the first tool able to measure enzyme activity around cancer tumors and healthy cells. And they\u2019ve deployed it to understand the unique signatures for tumors from 14 different kinds of cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat data is powering the first version of a cancer \u201catlas.\u201d Like a geographical atlas, it will offer directions to each kind of tumor, allowing scientists to design sensors that follow the map and detect cancer tumors when they\u2019re still small.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf I want to deliver a sensor to a particular region inside the body, right now, there\u0027s no way of directing it. We give it systemically, and it basically infuses all tissues all the time,\u201d said Kwong, Robert A. Milton Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. \u201cWhat\u0027s powerful is that we\u2019re now defining tissue sites with a specific molecular \u2018barcode.\u2019 Then if a sensor is given systemically, it should only turn on when the barcode matches the local tissue.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/cancer-atlas-offers-roadmap-detecting-tumors-earlier-ever\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead more about the project on the College of Engineering website.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETwo years into a $49.5 million cancer-mapping project, researchers are opening the door to new kinds of tests that could alert doctors to multiple kinds of cancer when they\u2019re most treatable.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Two years into a $49.5 million cancer-mapping project, researchers are opening the door to new kinds of tests that could alert doctors to multiple kinds of cancer when they\u2019re most treatable."}],"uid":"27446","created_gmt":"2025-10-16 13:48:30","changed_gmt":"2025-10-16 17:52:17","author":"Joshua Stewart","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678362":{"id":"678362","type":"image","title":"Kwong-ARPA-H-roadmap-illustration-t.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003E(Illustration: Sarah Collins)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1760622526","gmt_created":"2025-10-16 13:48:46","changed":"1760622526","gmt_changed":"2025-10-16 13:48:46","alt":"Illustration of cancer cells along a road with location markers next to each cell to represent the cancer \u0022atlas\u0022 Gabe Kwong and his collaborators are building.","file":{"fid":"262380","name":"Kwong-ARPA-H-roadmap-illustration-t.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/10\/16\/Kwong-ARPA-H-roadmap-illustration-t.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/10\/16\/Kwong-ARPA-H-roadmap-illustration-t.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":453049,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/10\/16\/Kwong-ARPA-H-roadmap-illustration-t.jpg?itok=lNQ0pgUe"}}},"media_ids":["678362"],"groups":[{"id":"660369","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"108041","name":"Gabe Kwong"},{"id":"193109","name":"arpa-h"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jstewart@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJoshua Stewart\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jstewart@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}