A Stem Cell-based Approach to Lung Cancer

Current cancer research is hindered by the limitations of existing experimental systems, which fall short in demonstrating concordance with human studies. In this way, we aim to develop models for studying mechanisms that initiate and progress carcinogenesis, focusing initially on Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC), the most aggressive type of lung cancer. My currently developed cell culture models based on directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) reveal why certain constellations of genetic changes drive carcinogenesis in specialized human cell lineages. These tractable experimental systems enable studying cancer in great depth, using genetically defined human cells that can be characterized at the single cell level. I will also describe our recent work in studying lung adenocarcinoma using the cells derived from hPSCs.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the advance of human pluripotent stem cell technology, and its application for disease modeling.

2. Review the technology to generate pulmonary neuroendocrine cells by directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells.

3. Review how to establish the model for various stages of small cell lung cancer using the human cells derived from pluripotent stem cells.