*March 2021*
Want to know more details about our two self-funded EGFR Resisters research projects in partnership with LUNGevity?
1. TARGETING DRUG TOLERANT STATES + DNA DAMAGE TO BLOCK OSIMERTINIB RESISTANCE, conducted by Christine Lovly, MD, PhD
Despite high tumor response rates, patients treated with EGFR targeted therapies, such as osimertinib, inevitably develop disease progression. Mechanisms of drug resistance remain incompletely understood on both a genomic and proteomic level. The objective of Dr. Lovly’s project is to find new targeted treatments and drug combinations that can tackle cancer evolution and osimertinib resistance.
2. MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF LINEAGE PLASTICITY, conducted by Helena Yu, MD
As a mechanism of resistance to EGFR inhibitors, cancers can change histology from adenocarcinoma to small cell or squamous cell lung cancer. Once this happens, EGFR inhibitors are no longer effective treatment; there are no strategies currently available to prevent or reverse transformation after it has occurred. Dr. Yu will use advanced molecular techniques to identify genetic changes that contribute to transformation. Understanding these genetic changes will identify biomarkers that can be utilized to develop treatments to prevent and reverse transformation.
Read the research summaries and technical abstracts here.
