Dr. Eichner’s Incredible Work in Decoding Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the third-most common cancer in the United States, with over 234,000 new cases expected to be diagnosed in 2024. Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. But there’s hope: research, through organizations like the V Foundation, is making a difference.

Over the past decade, the lung cancer death rate has been falling more than 4% on average each year. The V Foundation has shown a substantial commitment to lung cancer research in its 31-year history, funding over $27.5 million across 84 grants. One of the all-star scientists the V Foundation has funded is Lillian Eichner, Ph.D.

Dr. Eichner, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, is digging deeper into understanding what is driving lung cancer.

“There is still so much to understand, and when we understand it properly, that is when we’ll really have the power to do something constructive to help patients with this disease,” Dr. Eichner said. “It’s really the V Foundation funding that has allowed us to explore full steam ahead, as fast as we can, following up on these fundamental questions about what is actually driving this disease.”

By studying the biology of cancer, Dr. Eichner hopes this research will advance progress and reach patients in the clinic.

“My hopes for our V Foundation funded research is that we will be able to convert the discoveries we’ve already made with the funding from the V Foundation and convert that into actionable targets that we can then drug with medicines to block those pathways that are driving disease. The ultimate hope is that by understanding that and finding ways to target that, we will then impact patient lives.”

Dr. Eichner and her team at Northwestern recently published a paper detailing some of their research into the KRAS gene, the most commonly mutated oncogene in lung cancer.

Cancer cells with a mutation in the KRAS gene can quickly grow but also keep out cancer-fighting T cells, making them extremely dangerous and hard to treat. Dr. Eichner’s study focuses on a “gatekeeper” protein in the cancer cells called HDAC3.

Dr. Eichner and her team discovered that blocking the HDAC3 protein triggers an immune response in the body, sending T cells to potentially attack these cancer cells. This finding shows that blocking this protein in the cancer cells may finally be a potential treatment option to allow the body’s immune system to break up the cancer cells. This discovery is revolutionary research because it empowers the body’s own defense system, turning it against a type of lung cancer that’s been notoriously difficult to treat.

Dr. Eichner’s commitment to cancer research is inspiring, and she’s one of over 1,300 researchers funded by the V Foundation dedicated to seeking breakthroughs, developing new treatment options and saving lives.