“These complementary tools can provide information about tumor oxygenation levels, which is critical for radiation therapy to work, as well as the contributions of key biomolecules in the tumor microenvironment that contribute to the development of radiation resistance,” Rajaram said.

Rajaram said radiation is an important method for treating cancer, with most cancer patients receiving some form of radiation therapy to treat their cancers. Monitoring the effectiveness of that treatment can help doctors and patients make more informed decisions.


“For head and neck cancer specifically, the long treatment duration of seven weeks makes it imperative to find out right away if changes are required to the treatment regimen for non-responding tumors,” he said. “Exceptional responders could also benefit by allowing potential de-escalation of the radiation dose.”

The research is conducted by three teams with complementary expertise in optical imaging and radiation biology to develop a tool that can reveal key metabolic, functional and molecular changes in cancer cells, Rajaram said. The combination of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy is designed to allow real-time monitoring of oxygen levels and metabolism in tumors, which can provide key indicators of treatment response.

The possibilities extend beyond just chemotherapy and radiation therapy that forms the crux of this grant, Rajaram said.

“There are new drugs constantly being developed to treat different cancers and such optical technologies could also be utilized to evaluate treatment outcomes sooner than currently possible.”

Raj Rao, head of the Department of Biological Engineering, said the grant represents a major achievement.

“Receipt of this R01 grant demonstrates the significance of the multi-disciplinary research program that Dr. Rajaram has developed and highlights the usefulness of specific biomedical imaging modalities to contribute to improved clinical outcomes,” he said.

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