2023 LCRF–Daiichi Sankyo–AstraZeneca Research Grant on Antibody Drug Conjugates
Nan Sethakorn, MD, PhD
Loyola University of Chicago
Research Project:
Leveraging liquid biopsy to identify the optimal clinical niche for Trop2-targeting in NSCLC
Summary:
A new class of treatments in lung cancer are antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that work by detecting proteins on cancer cells. One target is Trop2, a protein found in many cancer cells. Trop2-ADCs show promising anti-tumor activity, but treatments often stop working, or do not work in everyone. Often, as patients receive treatments, their tumors develop changes that allow them to adapt, but often it is difficult to get a sample. New technologies that can analyze tumor cells circulating in blood are thus a way to obtain a “liquid biopsy” through a simple blood draw. This project will study three markers: Trop2, PD-L1, and schlafen-11, in circulating tumor cells, and may identify patients who may benefit from Trop2-ADCs either alone or in combination with currently existing immunotherapy.