Grant: Fellowship - Priority Announcement: Medical Oncology

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Canada. The treatment of the most common type of lung cancer known as adenocarcinoma has been greatly improved by the recent development of new treatments that target specific genetic mutations in lung cancer cells. Attempts to develop similar treatments in squamous cell lung cancer have been slowed due to the complex and variable genetic changes found in this cancer. As such, the development of new and efficient methods to detect complex and variable genetic changes that can be exploited by novel treatments is the crucial next step in the advancement of treatment for this type of lung cancer. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a novel method that allows for the rapid sequencing of important parts of the genome of a patient's lung cancer. We propose to validate the use of this technology in the clinical setting in order to rapidly identify genetic changes in squamous cell lung cancer patients that may be treatable using novel medications. We will examine the accuracy and feasibility of this method using both previously collected patient samples and information as well as recruiting newly diagnosed patients to this study. We will seek to use this technology to improve the rate at which patients are referred to clinical trials or started on novel treatments that specifically target the unique genetic changes present in their tumor. We ultimately seek to establish targeted NGS as a new standard of care for personalized medicine in squamous cell lung cancer.