New cancer research by scientists at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues, shows the potential for targeting a specific circular RNA, known as CDR1as, to attack lung squamous cell cancer. Lung squamous cell cancers comprise up to 30% of all lung cancers and are responsible for about 70,000 new cases and approximately 40,000 deaths each year in the U.S.
The results from this study are published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
“Cancer is revealing, at a rapid pace, that it has many more vulnerabilities than we previously believed, including the one we’ve elucidated, which undoubtedly means better treatment options ahead,” said study senior author UNC Lineberger’s Chad V. Pecot, MD, an associate professor at the UNC School of Medicine. “I’m very hopeful, based on our work and much of what is being done in the field of drug development, that many new medicines are on the horizon.”
