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Henderson’s NCCC Prouty Pilot award for ABY-029

Posted in News

Congratulations  to Dr. Eric Henderson, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Geisel School and Program Director for DHMC’s Sarcoma & Connective Tissue Oncology program, for his recent $100k award from the Norris Cotton Cancer Center Developmental Funds, a Prouty Pilot Project.

The award will support a Clinical Research study using ABY-029  in a small number of subjects with Non-Metastatic Soft-Tissue Sarcoma.  Sarcomas are cancers of bone, muscle, and fat that require complete surgical removal for their cure.  In sarcoma surgery, the goal is to completely remove the tumor with a small margin of normal tissue surrounding it, while leaving in place vital structures.  For the last 30 years, surgeons have relied on radiologic imaging and visual/tactile clues to gauge tumor depth, an imperfect practice.    To provide surgeons with knowledge of the tumor margin thickness in real time would be an important advance.

ABY-029 is a novel fluorescent marker created through an NIH-funded Academic-Industrial Partnership championed by Thayer School Investigators Brian Pogue and Keith Paulsen.  Following FDA approval, the sarcoma study will be the second study to use ABY-029 in humans.  Thayer researchers are also working toward approval to use the drug in a third study involving subjects with head and neck cancers.