NIH Grant Supports Population Modeling Research to Improve Bladder Cancer Care

A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will use mathematical modeling to evaluate strategies for bladder cancer prevention, detection, surveillance, and treatment. Stella Kang, MD, MS, professor of radiology, vice chair of clinical research, and director of Columbia’s Center for Advanced Diagnostic Research (CADRe), is a principal investigator on the project.

The multi-institutional study, “Population Modeling for Bladder Cancer Prevention and Control,” is led by Thomas Trikalinos, MD, PhD, of Brown University, with the University of Ottowa’s Hawre Jalal, MD, PhD, serving as a principal investigator along with Kang.

Bladder cancer encompasses a wide spectrum of disease, from non-muscle-invasive tumors requiring long-term surveillance to advanced cancers that require intensive treatment and carry substantial risks of metastasis and mortality. At the same time, new biomarkers and treatments are rapidly changing how the disease is detected and managed.

The research team will enhance three independent population models of bladder cancer and use them to evaluate the effectiveness, costs, and cost-effectiveness of strategies for early detection and screening in people at high risk, surveillance of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, and emerging treatments. The researchers ultimately aim to identify approaches that can improve bladder cancer outcomes while making prevention and care more efficient.

Kang is the founding director of CADRe, a Columbia-wide multidisciplinary center focused on accelerating the development, rigorous evaluation, and clinical translation of new diagnostic tools. Her research focuses on using mathematical modeling, health technology assessment, and outcomes research to improve clinical decision-making and cancer care.