Personalized therapy for lung cancer with distinct mutational landscape through 3D organoid cultures

Project information

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) constitutes the largest histo-molecular type of lung cancer. LUAD is characterized by a plethora of oncogenic drivers where KRAS are the most frequently detected. However, to date there are no effective therapies agains patients harbouring KRAS mutations, what is in contrast with targeted therapies against other oncogenic drivers such as EGFR, EML4-ALK, BRAF or MEK. In addition, concurrent mutations with KRAS in a diverse spectrum of tumor suppressor genes influence patient survival and therapy response, what increases the complexity of patient treatment even in cases where tumors are triggered by the same oncogenic driver.

We propose to unveil personalized therapies for patients with KRAS mutations and coexisting mutations in various tumor suppressor genes taking advantage of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, genetically-engineered mouse models and drug libraries. Our work will serve to discover new tailored treatments with medium-term implications for the treatment of LUAD patients.

• Duration: 18 months
• Start date: September 30, 2019
• End date: March 31, 2020
• Funder: BBVA (Becas Leonardo)
• Grant: 40.000 €
• Nature of project: National