PHILADELPHIA (August 29, 2018)—Yanis Boumber, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Hematology/Oncology, has been awarded a R21 grant from the National Cancer Institute to support research on non-small cell lung cancer. He will receive a total of $438,000 over two years from the Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program.
The goal of the funded studies will be to understand how the protein Musashi-2 (MSI2) affects the resistance of non-small cell lung cancers to inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinases. Additionally, Boumber’s lab will evaluate the therapeutic effect of combining novel small molecule MSI2 inhibitors with EGFR inhibitors.
MSI2 is an RNA-binding protein that regulates mRNA translation, and has previously been shown to have dysregulated function in leukemias. In previous research Boumber determined that MSI2 expression is significantly elevated during tumor progression, and predicts poor patient outcomes.
“This new grant will enable us to build upon our studies of MSI2 regulation of EGFR and HER2 signaling with preclinical studies to assess the importance of targeting MSI2 together with EGFR and HER2 signaling pathways,” said Boumber.