2012 Free to Breathe Young Investigator Research Grant
Naveen Kommajosyula, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Research Project:
Blocking PARP in Lung Cancers
Summary:
Many chemotherapy treatments work by attacking the DNA of cancer cells. Cancer cells are often resistant to these treatments because they have an overactive ability to repair this DNA damage. As a result, the cancer cells don’t die. One protein, poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), seems to be particularly vital to this DNA repair process. If this protein is blocked by drugs (called PARP inhibitors), the cancer cell can’t repair itself and will die. Dr. Kommajosyula’s research aims to understand how to block PARP in lung cancers and test new drugs that could be used in combination with PARP inhibitors in order to provide more effective treatment options for lung cancer patients.