Previously Funded Research

Curtis Chong, MD, PhD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Research Project:

Combination screening of targeted therapies as a strategy to understand and overcome resistance to EGFR inhibitors in lung cancer patients

Summary:

Activating mutations in EGFR are present in around 15 – 20% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with the majority of these occurring in never-smokers. While most EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients initially respond to treatment with an EGFR-targeted therapy, essentially all patients develop drug resistance. Dr. Chong aims to identify targeted therapies and existing drugs that overcome resistance to EGFR-targeted therapy in lung cancer patients with an activating EGFR mutation. He will test a collection of 1200 existing targeted therapies in combination with an EGFR-targeted drug to identify additional therapies that reverse resistance. The most promising combinations will tested in tumor samples from lung cancer patients. These combination treatments may ultimately extend the duration of patient response to treatment.