The Research Changing How We Understand Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, accounting for roughly 20% of all cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. But researchers are changing our understanding of the disease, and that shift could open the door to groundbreaking treatments.  

Thanks to Pelotonia funding, much of that work is happening at the OSUCCC – James, home of the Lung Cancer Preclinical Therapeutics Platform. The platform, which focuses on discovering new drug combinations, overcoming treatment resistance and studying aggressive lung cancers, is directed by Triparna Sen, PhD, who was recruited to the OSUCCC – James in part through Pelotonia funding.   

“We have made great progress in treating lung cancer, but we still have a long way to go,” Dr. Sen says.  

Lung cancer is primarily divided into two types: non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC), which account for most diagnoses, and small cell lung cancers (SCLC), which are rarer but far more dangerous.  

“Small cell lung cancers make up approximately 15% of diagnoses, but it’s one of the most aggressive forms of not just lung cancer, but all cancers,” Dr. Sen says.  

Because lung cancer is often caught late, it’s especially hard to treat. Dr. Sen and her lab investigate the disease at a fundamental level: how it begins, how it evolves from benign to highly metastatic and how it develops resistance to treatment. They rely on advanced sequencing of DNA, RNA and proteins, along with CRISPR (gene editing) screens and molecular cell biology, to understand the disease at its deepest levels.  

“We’re capturing the biology of cancer with a precision that we weren’t able to before. That has literally led to a completely new form of understanding of cancer,” Dr. Sen says.

Dr. Sen discovered how some lung cancers can change from NSCLC to SCLC after patients stop responding to treatment, a major challenge in cancer care. Her research has helped pave the way for new treatment approaches and has supported several clinical trials for SCLC. She has also helped develop biomarkers, which are tests that can help identify the right patients for specific treatments and track how those treatments are working. 

That depth of research is already advancing lung cancer care via promising treatments, including immunotherapy, which harnesses the body’s immune system to better fight disease.    

“We study how to make immunotherapy better,” Dr. Sen says. “These treatments have really changed survival for people with cancer, but only a minority of lung cancer patients currently see durable benefits from immunotherapy.”  

Dr. Sen’s team is exploring how combining immunotherapy with other treatments, including DNA damage response inhibitors and epigenetic modifiers, can extend those benefits to more people.  

The questions are far from answered. But with every one Dr. Sen’s lab takes on, the science moves forward, and so does the possibility of better outcomes for patients with lung cancer. 

Watch the full episode on The James Cancer-Free World Podcast here.

This article appeared in the Summer 2026 issue of the Pelotonia Insider, which can be found here.