Scientists have discovered a new weakness in lung cancer that could lead to better treatments and help prevent the disease from coming back.
Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center found that a protein called agrin plays an important role in helping lung cancer grow and resist treatment.
This discovery offers a promising new target for fighting the most common type of lung cancer—lung adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer.
The study was led by Dr. Sayan Chakraborty and published in the journal Advanced Science.
Dr. Chakraborty’s team found that mutations in a gene called EGFR, which is known to help cancer grow, also increase the amount of agrin around cancer cells.
Agrin is normally found on the surface of cells and in the space between them, where it helps hold tissues together. But in this case, too much agrin seems to make cancer stronger.
This overactive agrin supports cancer progression by helping EGFR do more damage. Because of this, targeting agrin could make EGFR-focused treatments more effective and help reduce the chances of cancer coming back after treatment.
Using lung cancer cells, animal models, and samples from real patients, the researchers tested a new treatment that combines regular EGFR therapy with a method to block agrin.
The results were promising. When agrin was suppressed, the cancer’s growth slowed, showing that this combination treatment might work better than standard therapies alone.
Dr. Chakraborty also suggested that in the future, patients might benefit from a simple blood test to measure agrin levels. This could help doctors check how well someone is responding to EGFR treatments and whether their cancer is likely to return. Knowing a patient’s agrin level could guide doctors in choosing the best treatment and adjusting it if needed.
These findings will be presented in more detail at the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago. Dr. Chakraborty will share the study on Sunday, April 27, in a special poster session titled “An agrin mechanotransduction for EGFR-addicted cancers.”
This research shines new light on how lung cancer survives and grows—and gives hope for smarter, more effective treatments that could help people live longer and healthier lives.
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