Mark Foundation-Backed Studies Deliver 3 Cancer Breakthroughs, Including 14-Protein Lung Risk Test
Updated
Updated · Oncodaily · Jun 12
Mark Foundation-Backed Studies Deliver 3 Cancer Breakthroughs, Including 14-Protein Lung Risk Test
1 articles · Updated · Oncodaily · Jun 12
Summary
Three newly published Mark Foundation-supported papers span lung cancer prediction, single-cell genomics and drug-target mapping, highlighting results from grantees Charles Swanton, Dan-Avi Landau and Ku-Lung Hsu.
A Cell study led by Swanton identified a 14-protein blood signature that predicts lung cancer risk more than five years before diagnosis, including in non-smokers, by detecting an inflammatory state that precedes tumors.
That lung-cancer work also suggests an existing anti-inflammatory drug could nearly halve risk in high-risk patients, shifting the focus from early detection toward prevention.
Landau’s Cell paper introduced DandD-seq, a single-cell method that leaves a chemical footprint where proteins bind DNA, enabling genome-wide mapping of even transient regulatory interactions.
Hsu’s Nature Communications study mapped more than 31,000 targetable tyrosine and lysine sites across human proteins, creating a chemoproteomic atlas that could guide future cancer drug discovery.