LUNGevity Issues RFA to Examine Immunotherapy Resistance in Lung Cancer

LUNGevity Foundation has issued an RFA (Request for Application) for the Brown/LUNGevity Award to Understand Mechanisms of Resistance to Immunotherapy. This award, supported by the Brown Family from Atlanta, GA, aims to study how metastatic non-small cell lung cancer becomes resistant to immunotherapy and how we can avoid or overcome this drug resistance.

Immunotherapy has revolutionized our approach to treating lung cancer. It is used in both early and late stages of disease and in combination with other treatments. Currently, the FDA-approved immunotherapies for lung cancer target two immune checkpoint pathways — PD-L1 and CTLA-4. When patients with lung cancer are treated with these immunotherapies, they may benefit from treatment initially and then have their tumors develop resistance to treatment and begin to grow again.

"When immunotherapy became an option for our family, we felt an incredible sense of hope, which grew even further as we experienced such a positive response to the treatment. After 15 months where we were 'super responders' to the treatment, the cancer returned. As we began our search for the next best option, we found that our choices were limited. Through this project, our hope is to help not only members of our family, but everyone who could be facing resistance to immunotherapy in the future," said Mike Brown.

"To strategically identify gaps in the portfolio of lung cancer treatments, LUNGevity conducted a landscape analysis of the current therapeutics in development and found that only a small proportion of immunotherapy drugs being developed focus on treating resistance that develops after treatment with PD-L1 or CTLA-4 inhibitors," said Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, executive director of LUNGevity Research. "The Brown/LUNGevity Award for Immunotherapy Resistance aims to directly address this need by supporting impactful, patient-focused research to help us address resistance to immunotherapy."

Selected research projects will be awarded a maximum of $500,000 over two years ($250,000 per year).

Letters of intent must be submitted by February 9, 2024.