Sharon Pine, Ph.D.

Lung cancer is responsible for 25 percent of deaths caused by any cancer in the U.S. Most patients with lung cancer are diagnosed after the cancer has already spread and, unfortunately, the options for therapy are very few. Some patients with lung adenocarcinoma are eligible for therapy that targets the mutation in their tumor. However, there are still no targeted therapies available for most patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. Our proposal addresses this problem. We propose to test a novel way to treat squamous cell carcinomas that have a mutation in the gene called PIK3CA. A mutation in PIK3CA is believed to be the driver of the tumor. We propose pre-clinical pilot studies to examine a new treatment option for these patients. Our long-term goal is to make targeted therapy a reality for all lung cancer patients. We believe our proposed work will bring us closer to that goal and will ultimately improve survival for patients with lung cancer.

Update: We are well on our way toward successful completion of the proposed work. In this funding period, we established the cell and patient-derived models as well as optimized the drug dosages. With the tools in hand, we are proceeding with testing the new drug combinations on PIK3CA-mutant squamous cell lung cancer.