Lung Cancer SPORE

The Lung Cancer SPORE was originally given jointly to MD Anderson and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 1996. Both institutions have received $6.5 million in SPORE renewed funding.

The collaboration has produced several key findings including the identification of three lung cancer tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 3 that dramatically reduced human lung cancer growth in mice.

Lung cancer was diagnosed in an estimated 222,500 Americans in 2017 and 155,870 died from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

John Minna, M.D., of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D., of MD Anderson serve as the lung cancer SPORE's multi-principal investigators.