John Koomen, Ph.D.

Targeted therapy has become a powerful tool for treating adenocarcinoma lung cancer. For example, patients with EGFR mutations which cause tumor formation and progression can be treated with drugs, including erlo-tinib and gefitinib, which specifically shut down the signaling of the EGFR. Unfortunately, similar advances have not been found in squamous cell carcinoma. As these drugs work on molecules called kinases, the re-searchers will attempt to characterize these kinases in the hope of finding a key to aid in development of drugs which can specifically target them.