WASHINGTON – October 29, 2026 -- LUNGevity Foundation and the Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research (RTFCCR) have awarded $620,000 to an early-phase clinical trial at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. The trial will test whether pairing two FDA-approved drugs can stop resistance to osimertinib in EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Resistance to EGFR inhibitors affects a sizable share of NSCLC patients
About 15% of NSCLC patients in the US and 35% in East Asia have tumors with an EGFR gene mutation that drives cancer growth. Multiple generations of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) stop growth in these tumors. Over time, however, tumors develop resistance and resume growing. The cause is drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cells, which adapt and evolve to evade treatment.
Ohio State's Bobak Parang will test alectinib as a partner to osimertinib
Bobak Parang, MD, PhD, leads the project, titled "Targeting FER to eradicate drug-tolerant persister cells in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer." The award is the RTFCCR/LUNGevity Award for Overcoming Treatment Resistance.
The approach combines osimertinib, a TKI for EGFR-positive NSCLC, with alectinib. The FDA has approved alectinib for ALK-positive NSCLC, and it also inhibits FER, a gene known to be activated in DTP cells. Parang hypothesizes that blocking FER with alectinib will eradicate DTP cells and prevent resistance to osimertinib.
If the trial succeeds, it would produce a new, well-tolerated regimen for patients with stage IV EGFR-positive NSCLC. The source describes the potential to turn a life-threatening disease into a chronic condition.
Funders target a gap in early-phase trial financing
Karolina Werynska, PhD, Senior Scientific Program Manager at RTFCCR, said patients need a way to halt resistance so they can stay on current treatment longer, and need it soon.
Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, Executive Director of LUNGevity Research, pointed to the funding problem: "Researchers often find it challenging to find funding for early phase clinical trials."
US lung cancer burden remains high
More than 229,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year. Only 29.5% of those diagnosed survive five years or more, rising to 65% when the disease is caught before it spreads.