NIH Reporter #11232355

Uncovering Epigenetic and Transcriptional Drivers of Neuroendocrine Plasticity at Single-Cell Level in Patients with Small Cell Lung Cancer Transformation

NIH awarded a research grant to Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research to study neuroendocrine plasticity in lung cancer using single-cell sequencing and preclinical models, aiming to identify molecular drivers for new drug targets.

Description

This project investigates the histological transformation from lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and the subsequent diversification into more aggressive SCLC subtypes. It focuses on neuroendocrine lineage plasticity, a process promoting metastasis and treatment resistance in lung cancer. The research employs single-cell sequencing in patient tumors with combined LUAD/SCLC histology and functional experiments in preclinical models to identify transcriptomic and epigenetic changes driving lineage plasticity. The goal is to discover molecular drivers that could serve as novel drug targets to inhibit lineage plasticity, with implications for lung cancer and other cancers where small cell transformation may occur.

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