Lung and Thoracic Malignancies Program (LTMP)

Overview

The Lung and Thoracic Malignancies Program (LTMP) has three related research goals:

  1. Improve early detection of thoracic cancers
  2. Develop therapy for thoracic cancers
  3. Identify individuals at high risk for thoracic cancers and develop effective prevention strategies

The Program's research focuses on lung cancer; however, the Program also carries out research in esophageal cancer and mesothelioma. LTMP members' research endeavors to understand the biology and genetics of these cancers and to translate these findings to the clinic.

Some of the Program's many research strengths are growth factors; hormones and their receptors in the human airway and esophagus; polymorphisms in cell cycle and DNA repair enzymes that may alter cell turnover dynamics and processing of genetic damage induced by carcinogens; identification of cancer biomarkers using proteomics and genomics; mechanisms of induction of radiation damage in cells and tissues; lung cancer antigen discovery for vaccine development; and novel therapeutic trial development using both new systemic therapies, as well as new techniques for radiation delivery. Research projects of the Program are highly interdisciplinary in nature, and they involve investigators with expertise in clinical, population, and basic science studies.

The Lung and Thoracic Malignancies Program is also home to the NCI-supported Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer. The SPORE program consists of four major translational research projects in lung cancer, three research cores, an administrative core, a developmental research program, and a career development program.