NIH Director's Seminar Series: Causes and consequences of tumor heterogeneity: from the bed to the bench-side and back

Friday, May 2, 2025, 12:00 to 1:00pm

Wilson Hall, NIH Building 1; and NIH videocast

The final lecture in the 2024-2025 NIH Director's Seminar Series will be presented by IRP senior investigator Anish Thomas, M.D.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the most aggressive and treatment-resistant form of lung cancer, affecting over 30,000 individuals in the U.S. each year. Despite initial responses to therapy, the disease rapidly relapses in most patients, with fewer than 5 percent surviving beyond five years. SCLC is characterized by extreme tumor heterogeneity, comprising a dynamic mix of neuroendocrine (NE) and non-neuroendocrine (non-NE) cell populations, which enables tumor cells to adopt diverse phenotypic identities, fueling both metastatic spread and therapeutic resistance.

Dr. Thomas will discuss how both tumor-intrinsic factors, such as extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) amplification, and tumor-extrinsic influences from the microenvironment shape SCLC cell states. Ongoing work includes mapping the site-specific evolution of SCLC metastases using data from a unique cohort of rapid autopsy patients. He will highlight the reverse translation approach to understanding tumor biology and advancing treatments that leverages real-time clinical data, personalized patient care, and high-resolution tumor profiling.