Previously Funded Research

Nicholas Juul, MD

Stanford University School of Medicine

Research Project:

Identifying biomarkers of precancerous copy number alteration in normal alveolar epithelium

Summary:

Recent studies have shown that lung adenocarcinoma typically develops over decades, during which pre-cancerous cells harboring oncogenic mutations reside undetected in the lung. These cells are invisible to current imaging technologies like CT scans and remain clinically silent until they transition into tumors. The mechanisms driving this transition remain poorly understood.

We have developed a new technique that enables us to isolate lung cells at multiple stages—normal, pre-cancerous, and tumor—in sufficient quantities for detailed analysis. By comparing RNA and DNA features across these stages, we aim to identify molecular signatures unique to precancerous cells. Leveraging advances in RNA modification biology and cutting-edge sequencing technologies, we will then explore the potential to detect these precancerous signatures in the blood, paving the way for early, noninvasive detection strategies.