A BRC researcher is pioneering a study to track in real time how lung tumours develop and evolve as patients receive treatment.
The landmark study, led by Professor Charles Swanton, will examine exactly how lung cancers mutate, adapt and become resistant to treatments.
The study is an example of the BRC’s focus on personalised cancer medicine and will be carried out in the NIHR/Wellcome UCLH Research Facility, a purpose-built environment for volunteers and patients taking part in early-phase clinical trials and other research projects.
Called TRACERx (Tracking Cancer Evolution through Therapy), the nine year, £14 million UK wide study was launched by Cancer Research UK earlier this year and will bring together more than 65 lung cancer researchers in the UK.
Researchers will recruit 850 lung cancer patients (those with non small cell lung cancer) and take samples of their tumour before and following surgery and subsequently if the disease recurs.
Biopsies will be taken from different parts of each patient’s tumour and analysed with the latest technology to give a more comprehensive genetic profile. Different parts of a tumour can evolve independently, so a sample from one region alone might contain different genetic changes to another sample, elsewhere in the tumour.
Lung cancer has been difficult to study as it can be hard to access and take samples of tumours. An earlier innovation by Cancer Research UK means that patients will also have blood tests to examine DNA from the cancer that might be circulating in the bloodstream.
Researchers will then be able to compare genetic changes within and between patients, record how the treatment changes the genetic profile of their disease, and how this ultimately affects the patients’ chances of survival.
The combination of these techniques will give an unprecedented insight into lung cancer and allow researchers to identify and understand the precise genetic makeup of lung cancers. The results will also lay the foundations for being able to offer patients treatment that is tailored to the specific genetic makeup of their cancer.
Professor Swanton said: “Success in treating lung cancer has been difficult to achieve but we’re hoping to change that. The first step to improving cancer diagnosis and treatment is to understand more about the disease and how it changes over time. Research has led us to this point when, after decades of earlier work, we can look to the future with real optimism. We plan to harness new sequencing technologies to trace the genetic evolution of cancer over the course of the disease. Our research will help explain why lung cancer is difficult to treat, and steer a path towards saving more lives.”
Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Lung cancer kills more people than any other type of cancer. We want to change this. For too long, success against the disease has been slow. We’re determined to unlock the secrets of the disease, to understand its biology, to develop more accurate tests to diagnose it and discover better treatments for people.
Around 42,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK every year, with around 35,000 deaths from the disease. TRACERx will help to improve the understanding of the disease and ultimately the outlook for patients and their families.
Click here to read Cancer Research UK's official press release.
