What causes small cell lung cancer growth and resistance?
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States and worldwide. Small cell lung cancer comprises 15-17% of lung cancer cases, and it is the most aggressive subtype of lung cancer, growing rapidly and spreading to other organs quickly. Luke Hoeppner, PhD, received American Cancer Society funding to test whether therapeutically targeting a specific molecular pathway inhibits small cell lung cancer growth. Dr. Hoeppner’s lab was the first to report that activation of this particular pathway, called dopamine signaling, inhibits other forms of lung cancer growth. By therapeutically altering the dopamine signaling pathway, he hopes to inhibit small cell lung cancer progression and drug resistance, facilitating further advancement to new treatments. For more information about lung cancer, visit https://www.cancer.org/cancer/lung-cancer.html. Luke Hoeppner, PhD, is Assistant Professor and leader of the Cancer Biology research section at The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota. 5:09 – What is small cell lung cancer? What vital statistics about it should we know? 5:57 –What is the standard therapy for small cell lung cancer patients? 8:13 – Why is it so hard to treat? 10:04 – “Another way to put it is…” 13:59 – Why drug resistance is such an important area of research for small cell lung cancer 15:42 – “We’re trying to focus on understanding what in particular small cell lung cancer cells are doing to evade chemotherapy, and is there a combination treatment that we could add to chemotherapy that would prevent (resistance)?” 16:18 – On his lab’s novel approach to combatting resistance 24:17 – What are the therapeutic implications? 25:05 – Why he’s optimistic about this line of research 26:31 – On how American Cancer Society funding has impacted his research 27:18 – A message he’d like to share with cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers