Brigham and Women's Hospital: A Teaching Affiliate of Harvard Medical School
 
TEXT SIZE: Increase Font Size / Decrease Font Size
Icon PrintPRINT
En EspanolESPAÑOL
Bookmark and Share
FIND A DOCTOR
REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT
  •  
  •  
    • About Us
    • Our Locations
    • Innovative Care
    • News
    • Quality of Patient Care
    • Visting BWH
    • Giving to BWH
    • Departments and Programs
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
  •  

      CLINICAL DEPARTMENTS


    • Anesthesia
    • Cancer
    • Dermatology
    • Emergency Medicine
    • Medicine
    • Neurology
    • Neurosurgery
    • Newborn Medicine
    • Obstetrics and Gynecology
    • Orthopedic Surgery
    • Pathology
    • Psychiatry
    • Radiation Oncology
    • Radiology
    • Surgery
    • A to Z Listing of All Departments/Services

    • CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE


    • Cancer
    • Cardiovascular
    • Orthopedic and Arthritis
    • Neurosciences
    • Women's Health

      SUPPORT SERVICES


    • Care Coordination
    • Chaplaincy
    • Interpreter Services
    • Nursing
    • Nutrition
    • Patient and Family Relations
    • All Support Services

  • Browse by Letter

    a
    b
    c
    d
    e
    f
    g
    h
    i
    j
    k
    l
    m
    n
    o
    p
    q
    r
    s
    t
    u
    v
    w
    x
    y
    z

    Specialty Areas

    • CANCER
    • HEART DISEASE
    • ORTHOPEDIC CONDITIONS
    • WOMEN'S HEALTH

    Search for Diseases
    and Conditions



  •  
    • Adult Health Library
    • En Español
    • Health Information Center
    • Interactive Tools and Media
    • Health News
    • Health Events
    • Health Publications
    • Video Center
    • BWH Kessler Library


  •  
    • Find a Doctor
    • Request an Appointment
    • Directions
    • Phone Numbers
    • Your Hospital Visit
    • Quality of Patient Care
    • Patient Gateway
    • Resources for Patients
    • International Patients
    • Visitors


  •  

      RESEARCH AT BWH


    • About Research at BWH
    • BRI Centers and Programs
    • Departments
    • Laboratories and Research Projects
    • Research: Clinical

    • GET INVOLVED


    • Clinical Trials
    • Volunteer Opportunities

      FOR BWH RESEARCHERS


    • Biomedical Research Institute
    • Center for Clinical Investigation
    • Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
    • Cores and Resources
    • Office for Research Careers
    • Research Administration
    • Research Ventures and Licensing
  •  
    • Referring a Patient
    • Our Commitment to Quality
    • Educational Resources
    • Medical Community Events
    • BWH Residencies and Fellowships
    • Department of Nursing
    • Center for Nursing Excellence
    • Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
    • Center for Professionalism and Peer Support
Home > bwhcancer > pat > adult > thoracic-cancer > Lung Cancer and Thoracic Cancer Laboratory Research - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Cancer Treatment and Information
Thoracic Cancer Treatment Center
  • Overview
  • Bone Marrow Transplant
  • Breast Cancer
  • Cutaneous Cancer
  • Endocrine Cancer
  • Gastrointestinal Cancer
  • Genitourinary Cancer
  • Gynecologic Cancer
  • Head and Neck Cancer
  • Hematologic Oncology
  • Hematology - Non-Malignant
  • Infusion
  • Inpatient Care
  • Melanoma
  • Neurologic Cancer
  • Pain and Palliative Care
  • Pathology
  • Psychosocial Oncology
  • Radiology
  • Radiation Oncology
  • Sarcoma
  • Surgery
  • Thoracic Cancer
  • Cancer Information by Disease
  • What is Cancer?
  • Cancer Prevention
  • Screening & Detection
  • Dictionary of Medical Terms

Dana-Farber Brigham and Women's Cancer Center Banner

Laboratory Research

On this page

  • Epidemiology of Lung Cancer
  • Chemoprevention of Lung Cancer
  • Molecular Targets for Small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Molecular Targets for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Cell Cycle Control in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Brain Metastases in Lung Cancer
  • Lung Cancer in Young Patients
  • Restoring normal growth in lung cancer cells

The Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology Program is dedicated to finding new and better ways to treat patients with thoracic cancers. In addition to directing research programs at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, our physicians are leaders in national cooperative group studies through the Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

Such efforts have led to a full-scale attack on thoracic cancers. New drug combinations and multimodality therapies are significantly improving survival rates for patients with non-small-cell lung carcinomas. For small-cell carcinomas, which rapidly develop drug resistance and typically recur within two years, increased cure rates have been achieved with high-dose chemotherapy and the reinfusion of autologous bone marrow cells or peripheral blood progenitor cells to rapidly restore blood counts.

The program also is advancing minimally invasive methods to diagnose and treat lung cancer, such as video-assisted thoracic surgery. For malignant mesothelioma, research has shown the lives of some patients can be extended by aggressive surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

The biology of thoracic cancers is a promising area of research. To expedite the study of molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to cancer, the Thoracic Oncology Program has established a bank of frozen tissue specimens. Strategies designed in the laboratory to kill cancer cells selectively or to halt their spread are now being adapted to the clinical setting.

Below is a summary of other key research efforts at the Lowe Center.

Top

Epidemiology of Lung Cancer

David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Cigarette smoking causes the majority of lung cancers in the United States. However, the same exposure to cigarettes can cause lung cancer in some smokers while sparing others. In addition, about 10 percent of lung cancers in men and 20 percent in women occur in patients who do not smoke. There is an ongoing effort in the Harvard Medical School to determine the exposures of our patients who develop lung cancer. The General Thoracic Surgeons have been banking away from the patients with lung cancer for nearly 10 years. There are efforts to determine the genetic changes in the lung cancers and relate them to the exposures of the patients. This will be an important step to determine potential environmental causes of lung cancer and provide information about eliminating carcinogenic material from the environment.

Top

Chemoprevention of Lung Cancer

Pasi Jänne, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Approximately 85 percent of patients developing lung cancer will go on to die of their cancer with currently available treatment. The major public health approach to this is reducing cigarette smoking in the United States. This involves preventing young people from starting to smoke cigarettes and getting those who are currently smoking to stop. The policy has been partially successful because lung cancer deaths in the United States have started to fall. Despite this, more than 100 million current and ex-smokers are at risk for developing lung cancer.

An animal model has been developed where mice develop about 100 lung cancers 4-8 weeks after they are born. We have tested agents, which may prevent the development of these lung cancers. If successful, we will apply these to patients who have undergone resection of a lung cancer to prevent the development of a new lung cancer.

Top

Molecular Targets for Small Cell Lung Cancer

Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive cancer and leads to very early metastasis. We have been studying the role of various receptors in the etiology of small cell lung cancer. We have shown that receptor tyrosine kinases are an important pathway in these tumors, and have started to target them in clinical trials. As an example, the receptor tyrosine kinase c-Kit is expressed 70 percent of the time in small cell, and there is a specific inhibitor STI571 that target this receptor in cell lines. Based on this, there is a clinical trial of STI571 in patients with small cell lung cancer. Now, we are in the process of taking the patient specimens and analyzing various molecular/cellular parameters to correlate with potential response to therapy.

Also, since SCLC tends to metastasize early and often, we have begun to study the role cell motility plays in metastasis to the lymph nodes and bone marrow. We have a unique system to study the cell motility called time-lapse video microscopy (TLVM). Utilizing TLVM, we can determine the rate of migration, the various protein components involved in cell motility of SCLC, and the response to inhibition of motility by novel therapeutics. Eventually, we would like to prevent metastasis of SCLC; these studies may provide us with novel targets.

Top

Molecular Targets for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Bruce Johnson, MD, Principal Investigator
Over the past few years, significant advances have been made in the understanding of lung cancer biology. Many of these findings are now being translated clinically, and are forming the basis for the development of new drugs for advanced disease, providing new hope for patients. For example, we now have a sophisticated understanding of the genetic changes that occur that cause normal lung cells to become cancerous. Some genes, known as oncogenes, are abnormally activated in tumor cells. Other genes, which normally prevent cells from becoming cancerous (tumor suppressor genes), are missing in tumor cells. Several new drugs aimed at inhibiting oncogenes or replacing tumor suppressor genes have entered clinical trial at the Lowe Center. For example, we are participating in clinical trials using drugs directed at the ras oncogene (farnesyl transferase inhibitors), the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (Iressa) and protein kinase C (ISIS 3521). Several of these have shown significant promise when used alone or in combination with standard chemotherapy agents.

Top

Cell Cycle Control in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Geoffrey Shapiro, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) are a critical set of enzymes that govern the growth and division of cells. In normal cells, these enzymes are held in check by inhibitors that exert tight control over their activity. These inhibitors are missing in tumor cells. A new class of drugs, known as cdk inhibitors, is currently under development. Inhibiting cdks in lung tumor cells has been shown to stop their growth and to cause tumor cell death.

Flavopiridol is the first cdk inhibitor to reach clinical trial and is undergoing testing in lung cancer patients at the Lowe Center. Several patients have achieved impressive disease stability. In addition, preliminary results indicate that Flavopiridol can enhance the effects of standard chemotherapy agents used against lung cancer. The mechanisms by which cdk inhibitors interact with chemotherapy are currently a major focus of research. Clinical trials combining Flavopiridol with standard chemotherapy drugs are underway.

Top

Brain Metastases in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer to spread to the brain. The development of cancer spread to the brain during the treatment of lung cancer can include symptoms of headache, nausea, vomiting, balance and gait problems, muscle weakness, and memory problems. The chemotherapy given to patients with lung cancer does not get into the brain very well, so in many patients, the chemotherapy can be causing the cancer to shrink in the lung and other parts of the body, but grow in the brain.

The treatment for cancer spread to the brain can include irradiation to the whole brain, irradiation localized to the cancer spread to the brain and even surgical removal of the cancer. These treatments, in combination with other treatments, can cure some patients with lung cancer that has spread to the brain. The research that can be started here at the Lowe Center for Oncology is to set up a system to follow our patients to find out how many get cancer spread to the brain, the most effective means of treatment, and the outcomes of this treatment.

Top

Lung Cancer in Young Patients

David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Lung cancer occurs most often in older patients, but occurs about 10 percent of the time in patients younger than 50 years old, and about 2 percent of the time in patients younger than 40 year old. Although rare in the general population of lung cancer patients, many of these patients from throughout New England are seen at the DFCI Thoracic Oncology Program. The fact that cancer occurs in these young patients while only 20 percent of lifetime smokers develop lung cancer suggest that there are genetic factors which cause the development of lung cancer in these young patients. In this study, we propose to collect detailed clinical information on a large number of young patients with lung cancer, and to study the genetic factors that may account for their acquisition of lung cancer.

Top

Restoring normal growth in lung cancer cells

Barrett Rollins, Principal Investigator
Lung cancers occur when something disrupts the genes that regulate the normal growth of lung cells. This can happen by wholesale deletion of the gene, by mutations that inactivate the gene, or by gene "silencing." This last process occurs frequently in lung cancers and is caused by an enzyme that transfers chemical methyl groups specifically to the DNA of those genes. We have found that two of these enzymes, called DNA methyltransferases, are directly involved in the malignant transformation of normal lung cells; we are developing drugs and gene therapy agents that will reverse this process.

Top

Dana-Farber Brigham and Women's Cancer Center Logo

This page was last modified on 03/26/10

Quick Links
Maps and DirectionsMAPS AND DIRECTIONS

Thoracic Cancer Treatment Center

  • Center Home
  • Our Services
  • Laboratory Research
  • Clinical Research
  • The Treatment Team
  • Diseases Treated
  • Contact Information

Harvard Medical School logo Partners Healthcare logo
CONTACT US DISCLAIMER DIRECTIONS GIVING PRIVACY SITE MAP
© BWH 2010 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115 617-732-5500