Kellie Smith, Ph.D.

The Pierre Massion Lung Cancer Discovery Award

More than 1.8 million people worldwide are diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) every year. Of these patients, 20% present with stage I or II disease. For these patients, surgery remains the first course of treatment. However even in apparently curative surgery 50% of stage I and 70% of stage II NSCLC patients will recur and eventually die of the disease. Clinical trials are currently studying the impact of immunotherapy given before surgery to shrink the tumor (neoadjuvant)  or after surgery (adjuvant), such as checkpoint blockade, on disease-free survival. Unfortunately, even with these treatments most patients experience disease recurrence. Because pre-existing anti-tumor immune responses are needed for the function of most checkpoint blockade therapies, we will focus on understanding these responses in early stage NSCLC. Understanding immune factors that promote or prevent relapse is crucial for developing new adjuvant therapies and in delaying or preventing relapse in this patient population.