Evolutionary Single-Nucleus Profiling of Multifocal Lung Adenocarcinoma to Guide Treatment Strategies
Patients with lung cancer sometimes develop multiple tumors, a condition called multifocal lung adenocarcinoma, requiring physicians to determine which tumors need immediate treatment and which can be safely monitored. Currently, these decisions are based largely on CT scans, but imaging alone cannot fully reveal how aggressive a tumor may become. Our research aims to develop a molecular “report card” that helps predict the behavior of individual lung tumors. Using advanced single-cell technologies, we will analyze tissue from patients with multiple lung tumors, examining tens of thousands of individual cells to understand how tumors progress from early precancerous changes to invasive cancer. Rather than placing tumors into broad categories, this approach measures where they fall along a spectrum of disease progression, helping to identify tumors with high-risk features that might otherwise be overlooked. Our project will generate molecular signatures that will predict how advanced a tumor is on the progression spectrum, predict response to radiation therapy, and characterize the tumor immune environment. Eventually, these tools could help physicians personalize treatment decisions, ensuring that patients with multifocal lung adenocarcinoma receive timely intervention while avoiding unnecessary procedures.
