Overcoming Resistance to EGFR Inhibitors in EGFR-Mutant NSCLC

Dr. Faber’s research program includes studying resistance mechanisms to targeted therapies in lung cancer. During his postdoctoral training, he discovered that low expression levels of functional BIM, a pro-apoptotic protein, was sufficient to impart resistance to EGFR inhibitors in EGFR mutant lung cancer through loss of a cell death response. Loss of functional BIM is now part of clinical decision making for EGFR mutant lung cancer patients and combination therapy of EGFR inhibitors with BH3 mimetics to rescue or improve cell death responses are being explored clinically. Dr. Faber’s laboratory more recently linked epithelial-to-mesenchymal related EGFR inhibitor resistance with low levels of BIM, and a deficient cell death response.