2013 UALC
Anna Farago, MD, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Research Project:
Leveraging genetically engineered mouse models of small cell lung cancer for advanced therapeutic studies
Summary:
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is among the most aggressive and lethal solid tumor malignancies, yet research advances have been few and treatment outcomes have been virtually unchanged over the past 30 years. While chemotherapy initially induces a response in most patients, metastatic disease invariably recurs and is often resistant to additional conventional therapies. To date, there are no effective targeted therapeutic approaches in SCLC and research efforts to develop new therapeutic strategies for these cancers have lagged far behind those for non-small cell lung cancer. Dr. Farago will be using genetically engineered preclinical models of SCLC to test new therapeutic combinations and assess gene expression profiles of sensitivity and resistance. Ultimately, this work may lead to new targeted therapies for SCLC.