Biomarker or biomarker testing

Drs. Byers and Gibbons have discovered that lung cancer cells acquire the ability to hide from the immune system during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition—a process through which cancer cells develop the ability to spread to other parts of the body (metastasis). The LUNGevity award will help Drs. Byers and Gibbons study the effect of a new drug that can reverse the EMT process and make lung cancer cells more visible to the immune system.

Dr. Kulkarni is studying how circulating tumor cells (cancer cells that are released into the blood stream) can be used to develop a blood test for lung cancer early detection and treatment. Funding from LUNGevity will help him use a novel technology called the Vortex Chip to test two things: first, if lung cancer be detected early by identifying circulating tumor cells in the blood and second, if there are biomarkers in circulating tumor cells that can differentiate patients who will respond to immunotherapy or chemotherapy.

Dr. González Santamaria is investigating how the degradation of certain tumor suppressors (genes that stop cancer development) is accelerated and how that of certain onco-proteins (proteins that cause cancer) is slowed down in lung tumors. Her research will provide a platform for predicting the outcome for lung cancer patients.

Dr. Powell is identifying and characterizing molecular changes that are important in lung adenocarcinoma differentiation (changes in cancer cell shape and size) and invasiveness (ability to spread to other parts of the body). His long-term goal is to use these biomarkers to facilitate early diagnosis, refine prognostic assessment, and develop new therapeutic targets for lung cancer treatment and prevention.

Dr. Nana-Sinkam is delineating the role of microRNA expression profiling in the diagnosis, management, and prognosis of lung cancer. He is testing whether microRNA expression profiles are detectable in the  blood of lung cancer patients. He will compare individuals with lung cancer with current and former smokers without lung cancer.

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is active in both small cell and non-small cell lung cancer and provides a “don’t stop growing” signal to cancer cells. Dr. Robbins is working to identify and validate a panel of biomarkers that can be used to determine whether the lung cancer is sensitive to drugs that stop Hh signaling.

Dr. Tainsky has developed a technology that takes advantage of the responses of the human immune system to identify cancer-associated proteins that bind to antibodies present in the blood of cancer patients but not in the blood of healthy subjects or those with benign diseases. Dr. Tainsky is working to develop a non-invasive screening test for the early detection of lung cancer by using cancer-associated antigens as biomarkers.

Dr. Shofer’s research builds on work of earlier investigators who developed a lung cancer risk signature based on genetic changes in lung cells in smokers. Dr. Shofer hypothesizes that the lung cancer risk signature model is an indicator of how lung cells change during the process of cancer development. Should his hypothesis be correct, the lung cancer risk signature could be established as a sensitive biomarker capable of diagnosing patients with lung cancer by checking cells taken from the throat using a swab.

Dr. Borgia is working to develop new biomarkers to strengthen the capabilities of the existing blood test for identifying the presence of metastatic progress in non-small cell lung cancer that he has developed. He plans to adapt the blood test to a diagnostic card format so that high-risk individuals can put blood droplets on diagnostic cards at home and mail them to a test facility where the blood will be extracted and tested for the biomarkers in the panel.

Dr. Borgia has developed a blood test for identifying the presence of metastatic progression in non-small cell lung cancer. His current project allows for revision of the test to improve its accuracy and potentially reach an accuracy rate that will allow it to be useful as a stand-alone staging test.