Innovations in Combination Therapies for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Principal Investigator: Dr. Steve Chmura and Dr. Christine Bestvina

Disease: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Research Description: Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer in the U.S. for both men and women, and clinical research is especially critical to find treatments. Equally important is uncovering the biological mechanisms to determine why a patient may or may not respond to treatment. The research team is conducting a Phase 1 clinical research trial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), combining cancer immunotherapy drugs Ipilimumab and Nivolumab, originally approved for use in melanoma, with targeted radiation therapy. This project seeks to confirm the safety of this combination treatment in patients and identify any improvement in patient response compared to the current standard of treatment. Samples also will be collected and analyzed to identify biological changes that can then be correlated with patient response. Deeper knowledge of the relationship between radiation therapy and available cancer immunotherapies has the potential to inform many future combination therapies for lung cancer treatment and many cancer types.

CWR funding role: Participating funder

Completed: 2020