Damon Runyon Researchers

Non-small cell lung cancers are frequently driven by specific genetic alterations that can be targeted by precision medicine therapies. However, these therapies often result in partial responses, allowing some cancer cells to survive and become fully resistant to therapy. This ultimately limits patients' long-term survival. Dr. Blakely focuses on a particular type of lung cancer that is driven by mutations in the EGFR gene. This type of lung cancer frequently develops in younger patients who are non-smokers. Treatment of this disease with the targeted therapy osimertinib results in partial (incomplete) responses in the vast majority of cases. His goal is to understand why responses to this treatment are almost always incomplete, and to identify new targets for therapies to be used in combination with osimertinib. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to identify novel combination therapy strategies that can improve the depth and duration of response to targeted therapies, allowing patients to live longer.