Targeted Therapeutics Research Award
Funded equally by LUNGevity Foundation and the American Lung Association
John Eaton, PhD
University of Louisville
Louisville
KY
Previous work of Dr. Eaton and colleagues has demonstrated that mice vaccinated with certain stem cells are 80%-90% protected against the growth of lung tumors injected into the mice as well as protected against the development of lung cancer caused by administration of a carcinogen. The current research is determining whether lung cancer stem cells are selectively destroyed by lymphocytes (immune cells) from vaccinated mice. Dr. Eaton is also determining whether stem cell vaccination affects the growth of lung tumors in mice that have been genetically engineered to spontaneously develop lung cancer.