A Medical Device Daily

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle) Group Health Research Institute (Seattle) and the University of Washington schools of Public Health and Pharmacy have been selected to lead four projects backed by nearly $16 million in federal stimulus funding for comparative-effectiveness research in cancer. The grants establish Seattle as a national hub for conducting such research, which aims to objectively analyze cancer diagnostic tools, screening tests and treatments to determine the optimal choices based on balancing benefits — including effectiveness — and harms, such as cost. Most of these projects involve extensive collaboration between these local institutions.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has dedicated $1.1 billion to fund such research via the Grand Opportunities (GO) grants program of the National Institutes of Health, which supports high-impact ideas that lend themselves to short-term funding.

These GO grants represent just a fraction of federal stimulus funding for biomedical research awarded to these Seattle institutions. In total, as of Oct. 1, the UW schools of Medicine, Public Health and Pharmacy had received $79.6 million for 186 projects, the Hutchinson Center had received nearly $40.4 million for 60 projects, and Group Health had received more than $17 million for 15 projects.

In other grants news: Guided Therapeutics (Norcross, Georgia) reported that it was awarded a $2.5 million matching grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI; Bethesda, Maryland) to bring to market and expand the array features for its LightTouch non-invasive cervical cancer detection technology. The award provides resources to complete the regulatory process and begin manufacturing ramp up for the device and single-patient-use disposable.

Including the new award, the company has been awarded nearly $6 million in six consecutive grants from the NCI to develop the new, pain-free test for detecting cervical disease.

The GT LightTouch technology systematically and rapidly scans the cervix to identify cancer and pre-cancer painlessly and non-invasively, by analyzing the wavelengths of light reflected from cervical tissue. The technology distinguishes between normal and diseased tissue, by detecting biochemical and morphological changes at the cellular level. Unlike Pap or HPV tests, the LightTouch test does not require a tissue sample or laboratory analysis, and is designed to provide results immediately. The technology is designed as a device employing a single-use disposable patient interface.

Since development of the technology began, more than 3,000 women have been tested with the LightTouch, including more than 1,900 women who were evaluated as part of the FDA pivotal clinical trial.

According to studies published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, the non-invasive LightTouch test has the potential to be significantly more accurate when compared to tissue sample-based tests such as the Pap smear.