Targeted Therapy for ‘Undruggable’ Lung Cancer Stems from Decades of UCSF Research

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Over the past two decades, targeted cancer therapies have changed the prognosis for thousands of patients. By targeting the specific genetic mutation behind a patient’s cancer, these therapies have enabled increasing numbers of patients to experience fewer toxic side effects and, often, live free of disease following their treatment.

But until May 28, 2021, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved sotorasib for non-small cell lung cancer, there had been no targeted therapy available for people affected by the most common gene-related driver of tumor growth, the protein KRAS.

This long-delayed treatment milestone might not have happened at all without seminal accomplishments by UC San Francisco chemist and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Kevan Shokat, PhD, who succeeded in revitalizing a holy-grail-like quest after almost all others had given up.

ucsf.edu/news/2021/06/42086...