UIC Researchers Advancing the Screening, Detection and Treatment of Cancer

AI is being used by UIC researchers to improve early detection of lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The Sybil Implementation Consortium, of which UI Health is a member, has received a $3 million grant from AstraZeneca to bring more representation to the Sybil AI model, used to predict an individual’s risk of developing lung cancer. To date, the model has been tested in mostly white populations, but UIC researchers have demonstrated that Sybil works equally well in racially and socioeconomically diverse populations who often have a higher risk of developing lung cancer.

A second research team has discovered a unique use of lidocaine in the treatment of cancer, as well as a technology for improving detection of cancer cells in the blood stream. The team, led by Dr. Gina Votta-Velis, professor of anesthesiology in the College of Medicine, reports that the common pain relief drug lidocaine can affect pancreatic cancer cells released into the bloodstream during surgery, reducing their potential for metastasis. In conjunction, Dr. Votta-Velis has teamed with Ian Papautsky, the Richard and Loan Hill Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the College of Engineering. Dr. Papautsky has leveraged his expertise in microfluidics to develop a tiny chip-sized device that separates circulating tumor cells from a blood sample with 93% accuracy, capturing eight times as many cancer cells as currently available technology.