Summary
The mission of the Quantitative Imaging Network (QIN) is to improve the role of quantitative imaging for clinical decision making in oncology by the development and validation of data acquisition, analysis methods, and tools to tailor treatment to individual patients and to predict or monitor the response to drug or radiation therapy.
Steering Committee:
Robert Nordstrom
Larry Clarke
Apply to the QIN: Quantitative Imaging for Evaluation of Responses to Cancer Therapies (U01) PAR-11-150
The Quantitative Imaging Network: Quantitative Imaging for Evaluation of Responses to Cancer Therapies is designed to promote research and development of quantitative imaging methods for the measurement of tumor response to therapies in clinical trial settings, with the overall goal of facilitating clinical decision making. Projects include the appropriate development and adaptation/implementation of quantitative imaging methods, imaging protocols, and software solutions/tools (using existing commercial imaging platforms and instrumentation) and application of these methods in current and planned Phase 1 and 2 clinical therapy trials. The projects are focusing on imaging-derived quantitative measurements of responses to drugs and/or radiation therapy, and/or image-guided interventions (IGI). The goals require multidisciplinary efforts, include oncologists as well as clinical and basic imaging scientists as well as the involvement of industrial partners in the development and adaptation/implementation of quantitative imaging methods to aid cancer therapies.
This network is one of several being conducted within the Cancer Imaging Program. The main emphasis is on the support of the development and adaptation/implementation of quantitative imaging endpoints (including imaging methods and related software tools research, and/or informatics infrastructure, as needed). Any related clinical trials are not supported under this program.
To date, fifteen centers of imaging excellence have been selected through the NIH peer review process and more will be added as they pass through peer review. Five working groups, addressing common issues to the various programs, including data collection, data evaluation, informatics and potential clinical trials have been established, composed of members of the different programs, though not necessarily the principal investigators. Various program staff from the NCI have oversight of the network through monthly phone calls. The Network meets monthly via teleconference and organizes network-wide activities such as consensus publications, cross-network activities, associate membership in the network, and semi-annual face-to-face meetings.
The organization of the QIN is more than just an assembly of individual research programs. In addition to the Steering Committee, the presently funded seven centers are linked by five working groups. These are functions identified by the centers as being common to each center. By pooling resources in these areas, the centers can leverage their resources and prevent "siloing", a common problem in many multi-site initiatives.
Data Access
The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) is currently being used as a mechanism to allow data sharing between sites. Eventually we hope to be able to make many of the data sets utilized in the context of QIN research available to the general public. Currently the following QIN data sets are publicly accessible: