About the Research

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is the largest federally funded hospital-based research program in the United States. The medical research at MGH is paving a fruitful and promising path toward the improved treatment of lung cancer. To date, the lung cancer research team has developed a microchip-based device that can isolate and analyze circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from a blood sample. The CTC chip is made of silicon and is about as large as a business card. It is coded with an antibody that acts like a “glue” to capture tumor cells in the bloodstream. Researchers at MGH are optimistic that they will eventually use the chip to detect cancers that are likely to spread.

In May 2009, the organizers of the “Stand Up To Cancer” telethon announced that they were awarding a $15 million grant to the MGH research team that is developing the CTC chip. The goal of the MGH team is to spare cancer patients from multiple biopsies by using the CTC chip, which requires only a small amount of blood to test for the presence of cancer.

Cancer researchers at MGH are also focusing on genetic testing. By determining the genetic makeup of a patient’s cancerous tumor, doctors hope to match the tumor with the most effective drug treatment. Lung cancer patients have been the first to undergo the genetic screening. Dr. Alice Shaw says genetic testing is refining medical understanding and treatment, “We have a much more sophisticated understanding of the genetic changes that occur in cancer. And hand in hand with that knowledge, we also have new and improved targeted drugs.”