Lung cancer early detection

Our Research

Lung malignancies are the most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Out of the 8 million of the cancer-associated deceases taking place every year the estimates put over 1.5 of them as directly assigned to lung cancer. Although the efforts devoted to lung cancer research over the last decades have been formidable the underlying processes and mechanisms promoting malignant transformations have not been completely deciphered and, in most of the cases, the cell of origin of lung cancer remains largely unknown. Consequently, the available tools to achieve lung cancer early diagnosis, as well as the therapeutic approaches, are not good enough to tackle this disease. Most of the cases are diagnosed at advanced stages and ~90% of the patients die within a 5-year window from the first diagnosis.
As part of the CRUK Cambridge Centre Early Detection Programme, our group works at interface between cellular senescence, plasticity and the fundamental processes and mechanisms that lie at the origin of cancer. We are also developing novel tools and nanodevices for cancer therapy and diagnosis.