The Lung Cancer Translational Center of Excellence—Thoracic Oncology Precision Program
"By investing in the Lung Cancer Translational Center of Excellence-Thoracic Oncology Precision Program at the Abramson Cancer Center, our partners incentivize our researchers to take bold directions, empowering discoveries that will reshape the face of lung cancer care for decades to come.” Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil Director, Abramson Cancer Center John H. Glick, MD Abramson Cancer Center Director’s Professor
Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO
Leslye M. Heisler Professor of Medicine
Section Chief, Thoracic and Head & Neck Cancer
Associate Director, Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation (PC3I)
University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Project Manager, Thoracic Oncology Precision Program
Abramson Cancer Center
University of Pennsylvania
The Lung Cancer Translational Center of Excellence-Thoracic Oncology Precision Program (TCE-TOPP) at the Abramson Cancer Center has been transforming patient lives for over a decade through collaborative, immunotherapy-focused translational science. Thanks to philanthropy, our team has been empowered to uncover lifechanging advances, and our Thoracic Oncology Precision Program is positioned to even better understand and treat lung cancer by now focusing on precision medicine.
Using blood-based biomarkers to understand what’s happening inside a tumor — often before it shows up on scans — allows us to detect cancer recurrence earlier, monitor whether treatment is working, and adjust therapy in real time. With sustained research funding, we can personalize treatment for every patient, ensuring the right therapy is delivered at the right moment, with the best possible chance for cure or control.
The Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine offers unmatched depth in liquid biopsy research, translational oncology, and immunotherapy innovation. Under the leadership of Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, and Melina Marmarelis, MD, internationally recognized experts in plasma-based sequencing and precision therapeutics, and the dedicated support of Christiana Davis, MD, the TCE is uniquely equipped to deliver on its mission.
The future of lung cancer care will be precise, interconnected and deeply personal.
Despite major advances in lung cancer treatment, many patients still respond differently to the same therapies due to biological differences that traditional diagnostics often miss. The Lung Cancer TCE-TOPP aspires to address this gap and establish the Abramson Cancer Center as a global leader in biomarkerbased precision medicine for lung cancer. We envision a program that:
- Anchors treatment decisions in real-time molecular data
- Drives the development of biologically adaptive clinical trials
- Drives translational discovery through biospecimen collections
- Integrates liquid biopsy as a core component of care
MAKE AN IMPACT, ACCELERATE INNOVATION, AND BRING HOPE TO PATIENTS
By supporting the Lung Cancer TCE-TOPP, you help fuel innovation by enabling our researchers to move forward with “high risk, high reward” projects, allowing our research to take off in less traditional directions and support innovative projects that might not yet be ready to secure sustaining funding from industry partnerships or federal grants. Among the numerous dynamic projects in the works are these three top priorities of the Lung Cancer TCE-TOPP:
- Using changes in molecular residual disease (MRD) to guide treatment
By using a blood test called MRD we can personalize treatment before and after surgery in early-stage lung cancer. If cancer traces remain, patients may join trials testing stronger treatments. By tracking blood and outcomes over time, we aim to understand relapse and resistance, enabling smarter, real-time treatment adjustments. - Identifying patients with lung cancer who are “high-risk”
We aim to create biologically based risk models that go beyond traditional staging. Using tools like ctDNA, methylation analysis, fragmentomics, and AI-powered tissue analysis, we can better detect disease and predict its behavior—enabling more precise, personalized treatments based on biology rather than just tumor size or appearance. - Looking at biomarkers to personalize treatment
When lung cancer spreads, we personalize treatment using biomarkers from blood, genes, and tumors. By analyzing ctDNA, we track cancer growth, treatment resistance, and response. This helps our physicians adjust therapies—combining drugs, reordering treatments, or scaling back—based on real-time biology, ensuring each patient gets the most effective care possible.
Watch as Drs. Aggarwal and Marmarelis discuss the future of lung cancer, a future that will be precise, interconnected and deeply personal
Translational Center of Excellence Thoracic Oncology Precision Program
Philanthropic support is catalytic. It closes the gap between curiosity and clinical impact, empowering us to deliver on the promise of personalized, biomarker-informed lung cancer care. Join us! — Donate Today!