2017 Lung Cancer Research Foundation Annual Grant Program
Hua Zhang, MD, PhD
New York University School of Medicine
Research Project:
Enhancing anti-PD-1 immunotherapy with CDK7 inhibition in small cell lung cancer
Summary:
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the deadliest human cancers, accounting for about 15% of all lung cancers. Although SCLC patients often initially respond to chemotherapy, unfortunately tumors nearly always recur, resulting in a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. Using syngeneic immunocompetent mouse models with high resemblance to patient disease, Dr. Zhang will identify new therapeutic targets whose inhibition could augment anti-tumor immunity by PD-1 immunotherapy. In addition, to gain a deeper molecular insight of the immune landscape, Dr. Zhang will measures the transcriptional profiles of all tumor and immune cells by single-cell RNA-sequencing induced by treatment. Ultimately, characterizing the underlying mechanism associated with drug sensitivity will help develop tailored treatments for SCLC patients.