Myc-Driven biomarkers enable characterization and stratification of small cell lung cancer subtypes to facilitate more accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for almost 30,000 deaths each year in the US, with a two-year survival rate of less than six percent. Almost 40 percent of SCLC patients develop resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy, the current first-line treatment. MYC amplification is associated with treatment resistance and poor outcomes, but little was known regarding how MYC impacts SCLC.

Researchers have collaborated to discover that roughly 20 percent of SCLC patients develop a variant form of the disease, characterized by certain MYC-related biomarkers. The proposed technology detects variant SCLC by identifying the concentration of specific biomarkers in a patient. The technology can also be used to predict patient response to chemotherapy to help guide clinician decisions and improve patient outcomes.

Pre-Clinical Validation

• Stratifies SCLC subtypes, enabling a customized SCLC patient treatment regime.
• Improves accuracy of diagnosis and patient prognosis predictions.
• Facilitates approval of new drugs as a companion diagnostic.

Mollaoglu, G., … Oliver, T.G. (2017). MYC drives progression of small cell lung cancer to a variant neuroendocrine subtype with vulnerability to aurora kinase inhibition. Cancer Cell. 31(2): 270-285. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2016.12.005

Mouse model available for purchase through the Jackson Laboratory: https://www.jax.org/strain/029971

Publication Number: 2020/0010901 A1
Patent Title: Methods and Compositions for Identifying and Treating Patients with Small Cell Lung Cancer
Jurisdiction/Country: United States
Application Type: Non-Provisional

Aaron Duffy
(801) 585-1377
aaron.duffy@utah.edu