Kemp Lab
Principal Investigator: Christopher J Kemp
Institution: Fred Hutch Cancer Center (Seattle, WA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The development of drug resistance is a major cause of cancer treatment failure and mortality. Although much is known about the mechanisms by which tumor cells can become resistant to a given drug, translating this into effective therapeutic solutions remains an unmet clinical need. Here we propose to pioneer the use of patient derived tumor organoids (PDTOs) as a platform to identify and validate novel targets and effective drugs to overcome drug resistance in ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other tumor types. In our preliminary studies, we show that PDTOs genetically and phenotypically match the tumor from which they were derived and can be used to study the phenotypic consequences of tumor heterogeneity, tumor evolution, and drug resistance. Using a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) approved high complexity assay, we show that PDTO drug sensitivities are highly concordant with known genetic biomarkers, retrospective treatment history and prospective patient responses. Tumor organoids derived from patients who developed in situ drug resistance demonstrate ex vivo resistance to those same drugs but also demonstrate sensitivity to oth…
Active NIH Awards
- 5U01CA282109-04: A Patient-Centric Approach to Advance Functional Precision Oncology (2026)
- 1R56CA309037-01A1: Ex vivo drug testing with patient derived tumor cells for translational research. (2026)
- 5U01CA282109-03: A Patient-Centric Approach to Advance Functional Precision Oncology (2025)
- 5U01CA282109-02: A Patient-Centric Approach to Advance Functional Precision Oncology (2024)
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