Cancer Evolution Convergence Team - Stand Up To Cancer

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SU2C–National Science Foundation Lung Cancer Convergence Research Team:
Genetic, Epigenetic, and Immunological Underpinnings of Cancer Evolution Through Treatment

Grant Term: September 2015–December 2018

The SU2C–National Science Foundation (NSF) Lung Cancer Convergence Research Team focuses on non-small cell lung cancer and on acute myeloid leukemia, where despite initial beneficial responses to treatment, resistance to further treatment is all too common. Mathematical modeling approaches are being used to understand the evolution of drug resistance and to develop novel therapeutic strategies aimed at keeping the cancers from adapting to treatments.

ABOUT THIS TEAM’S RESEARCH

Preclinical and clinical studies have informed the development of increasingly effective cancer therapies. However, in the majority of cases patients subsequently develop resistance to the therapies that previously worked.

This SU2C–NSF Lung Cancer Convergence Research Team comprises cancer biologists, physician scientists with expertise in clinical oncology, and mathematical modelers. Using patient samples of two cancers as test cases (acute myeloid leukemia and non-small cell lung cancer), they are investigating the dynamics of therapeutic response and resistance in patients. These models will change in response to treatment and tumor evolution, allowing investigators to computationally test possible treatment regimens and select the most promising results for examination in cell culture, mouse models, and eventually in clinical trials. This research will help scientists understand the emergence of resistance to therapies in cancer cells and test new treatments to overcome that resistance.

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