University of Illinois receives $33M federal grant to revolutionize cancer surgery

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has received a significant federal grant that could be a major breakthrough in cancer treatment. 

The school was recently awarded nearly $33 million in federal funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.

The funds will be used to develop technology for surgical interventions in cancer patients.

Here’s the current challenge: When doctors remove cancer tumors, they often can't be certain that they’ve also removed all the surrounding cancer cells. 

For instance, 30% of breast cancer patients require additional surgeries because not all cancer cells were eliminated during the initial procedure.

This funding will support the development of technology that aims to reduce or eliminate this risk.

Dr. Boppart, from the University of Illinois, noted that they are collaborating with other institutions, including the Mayo Clinic, and have an accelerated timeline to achieve this goal.

The project is planned to span five years, with the hope of obtaining FDA approval. Once approved, the technology could be made commercially available for cancer patients not only in the U.S. but worldwide.