Molecular Epidemiology of Lung Adenocarcinoma in Multi-ethnic Asian Phenotype

Lung cancer is a malignant disease of heterogeneous histology and is divided into 2 major groups; small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC accounts for 75% of lung cancers, and can exhibit different pathways of resistance during treatment. It is increasingly apparent that effective treatment of NSCLC will require multiple drugs that attack different targets. This realization sets the stage for future individualized therapies that will depend on the molecular characteristics of NSCLC to target various pathways. AIMS 1. Describe the molecular epidemiology of lung adenocarcinoma in multi-ethnic asian phenotype. 2. Correlate tumor molecular characteristics with patient demographics and outcome to better understand carcinogenesis as well as in the discovery of novel targets for future drug development.