Both chemotherapy and radiation therapy (RT) are frequently used in the curative-intent, adjuvant therapy, and palliative treatment of lung metastases. However, these approaches suffer from lack of specificity and high toxicity leading to treatment failure and/or resistance, disease relapse, and adverse effects. For instance, a more aggressive and multidisciplinary strategy need to be considered for treating metastatic pulmonary tumors. In this project, we will synergistically enhance the efficacy of the nanofiber technology using radiation therapy. RT will have a major contribution on the overall therapeutic effect through direct tumor cell killing actions, but also modulation of the tumor microenvironment by alteration of immune inflammation, response, and defense. This new combinatorial treatment will impact on the whole ecosystem of the disease leading to a remarkably enhanced anticancer effect. This cooperative antitumor effort will also mitigate the dose limiting toxicity of either monotherapy leading to a safer treatment. To better understand the mechanisms responsible for the enhanced treatment outcomes, we will investigate the molecular and immune pathways activated by this multiplexed therapeutic strategy using multi-omics techniques.
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Collaborators
Dr. Linda Vahdat, MD, MBA – Medical Oncologist at Dartmouth Cancer Center, Lebanon, USA
Dr. Mark Souweidane, MD – Pediatric Neurosurgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA
Dr. Tracy Stokol, BVSc, PhD, DACVP – Veterinary Clinical Pathologist at Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
Dr. Adam Glaser, PhD – Senior Scientist at Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics and Affiliate Assistant Professor at University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Dr. Gabrielle Pouchelon, PhD – Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, USA