Treatment resistance in lung cancer: A highly plastic state
Resistance to treatment \u2013 it\u2019s one of the most important issues in cancer research. If cancer cells aren\u2019t killed during treatment, either because they weren\u2019t affected or because they changed enough to survive the treatment, it could lead to cancer recurrence.\n\nTuomas Tammela, MD, PhD, has an American Cancer Society grant to explore resistance to treatment in lung adenocarcinoma, the most common subtype of lung cancer.\n\nIn this conversation he walks us through new findings from his lab on the \u201chighly plastic state\u201d of certain cells in tumors. He explains how this relates to tumor heterogeneity, why this is a problem in lung cancer and other cancer types, and how it could be used in combination therapies. \n\nTuomas Tammela, MD, PhD, is Assistant Member at the Sloan Kettering Institute at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.\n\n3:01 \u2013 What does it mean for cancer to become resistant to treatment? \n\n5:24 \u2013 What does resistance to treatment mean in terms of the cellular makeup of a tumor?\n\n7:21 \u2013 A helpful way to understand \u201ctumor heterogeneity\u201d \n\n9:31 \u2013 What it means for cells to be in a \u201chighly plastic state\u201d and why that\u2019s importance to treatment resistance and cancer progression\n\n13:05 \u2013 Is the \u201chighly plastic cell state\u201d seen in different cancer types and\u2026\n\n14:46 \u2013 \u2026could it be targeted therapeutically?\n\n16:51 \u2013 How tumor heterogeneity impacts treatment resistance in lung cancer\n\n20:42 - If later stage lung cancer tumors are more heterogenous, what could help us understand how to treat them? \n\n25:12 \u2013 On how American Cancer Society funding has impacted his research\n\n26:41 \u2013 A message he\u2019d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers