Advancing Precision Imaging for Enhanced Diagnosis and Treatment for Oral Lesions

Background

Cancer in the mouth and back of the throat is notoriously difficult to detect. The suspicious tissues, or oral lesions, often resemble mouth sores or patches from other common or harmless conditions, posing a challenge for clinicians to identify. The gold standard for screening is to biopsy the lesions, a technique that has low specificity and sensitivity and that can cause pain and dysfunction in patients. These limitations can delay detection and diagnosis. As a result, oral cancer remains one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with a five-year survival rate of less than 50%.

NIDCR’s Response

In response, the institute issued the Precision Imaging of Oral Lesions notice of funding opportunity, or NOFO (formerly known as a funding opportunity announcement), in 2018. The NOFO invited projects aimed at improving the detection, diagnosis, and personalized treatment of oral lesions through advanced imaging techniques. These techniques include those aided by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital pathology. The goal is to standardize quantitative imaging metrics, integrate imaging into clinical trials, and use imaging data to profile oral lesions, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

In 2024, NIDCR issued the Advancing Precision Imaging for Enhanced Diagnosis and Treatment for Oral Lesions notice of special interest, or NOSI, to update the initiative to include projects that characterize inflammatory processes of oral lesions using advanced imaging technology.

NIDCR-Funded Awards

To date, NIDCR has issued 14 awards totaling approximately $21 million.