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Cancer detection, treatment, and biology

TRDRP will support research into the causes, early detection, and effective treatment, care, prevention, and potential cures of cancers that the Report of the Surgeon General has identified as being caused by tobacco products. TRDRP will also support projects in which tobacco products or their constituents are integral to the proposed study.

TRDRP supports innovative, timely and high impact research that addresses basic, translational or clinical aspects of tobacco-related diseases. Research into the mechanisms, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of tobacco-related diseases, with a focus on disproportionately affected groups, is of critical importance to reducing the negative impact of tobacco product use.  TRDRP-funded studies must focus on diseases and biomedical mechanisms that are directly related to tobacco use. Research that can inform FDA regulations on new and emerging tobacco products is of particular interest. 

Examples of relevant research topics:  

  • Clinical and/or pre-clinical studies on the carcinogenic potential of new tobacco products.  
  • Epidemiology studies to correlate cotinine or other biomarker levels with cancer risk in tobacco priority populations.
  • Polygenetic/Epigenetic studies to understand the biological mechanisms of non-menthol synthetic cooling agents (such as WS-3 and WS-23) in priority populations. Molecular biology studies identifying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in individuals that co-use cannabis and tobacco.  
  • Use of precision medicine approaches to develop therapeutic strategies for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Note: Lung cancer studies should focus on disease types that are strongly correlated with tobacco product use (e.g., SCLC).