Podcast: When lung cancer research gets personal
Lauren Averett Byers, M.D.
Department of Thoracic-Head & Neck Med Onc, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Dr. Byers
Dr. Lauren Byers is a Professor and Thoracic Section Chief in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Byers completed her B.A. degree in Molecular Biology at Princeton University in 1998, her M.D. degree at Baylor College of Medicine in 2003, and M.S. degree in Patient-Based Research at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2009. Following her Clinical Residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Byers joined MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2006 as a Clinical Fellow in Medical Oncology and later as an Advanced Scholar Fellow.
As a physician-scientist, Dr. Byers’ research focuses on high-throughput molecular profiling to identify new therapeutic targets, predictive biomarkers, and mechanisms of resistance, especially in the area of Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). H er research led to the first comprehensive framework for classifying SCLC into distinct molecular subtypes. She has rapidly translated these findings into clinical trials and leads a multi-disciplinary translational research team that leverages tumors and liquid biopsies from patients with lung cancer to accelerate the development of personalized treatments and biomarkers.
Dr. Byers serves as PI on multiple awards including NCI R01, U01 and U24 awards focused on lung cancer. She is co-PI for the NCI’s Small Cell Lung Cancer Consortium, Chair of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Multidisciplinary Research Program, co-leader of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Lung CCSG Program, and a project leader in the MD Anderson/UT Southwestern Lung SPORE. As a clinical investigator, Dr. Byers has led a number of clinical trials investigating new therapeutic targets and biomarkers, including the first CAR T-cell for SCLC patients.
Her contributions in SCLC (one of the most recalcitrant cancers) have been recognized in the NCI’s report to the US Congress as among the most impactful advances in the past decade. She has an impressive list of awards, including election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the MD Anderson President’s Recognition for Faculty Excellence. She has mentored numerous early career trainees, serves as faculty at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and serves on several grant review panels, including past Chair of the ASCO Conquer Cancer Grant Selection Committee, and is a standing member on several grant review panels including the NIH Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics-2 (MCT2) Study Section.
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Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Dr. Byers’ research goal is to identify changes in cancer cells at the molecular level that contribute to their growth and drug resistance and apply this knowledge to develop more effective, personalized therapy for patients. Her laboratory - together with the Thoracic Bioinformatics Team, which she co-leads - studies gene and protein profiles obtained from lung cancer cell lines, mouse models, and patient tumors. Dr. Byers’ laboratory research led to the discovery of several novel drug targets for lung cancer and important ways in which cancer cells can become resistant to existing therapies, including immunotherapy. The results generated by her team have led directly to clinical trials with new combinations of drugs that will impact patient care. More recently, Dr. Byers’ group identified transcriptional subtypes tumor of SCLC with unique therapeutic vulnerabilities that be identified using both transcriptional and cfDNA methylation profiling data. Currently, Dr. Byers is examining approaches to personalize treatment for SCLC patients, and to develop novel treatment modalities in the relapsed setting.
Clinical Interests
Dr. Byers is a medical oncologist dedicated to bringing the most promising findings from her research to the bedside. She has translated key findings from her work into clinical trials and new biomarkers that have the potential to improve personalized cancer care for people with lung cancer.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2009 | University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA, MS, Cancer Biology (Specialization in Patient-Based Research) |
| 2003 | Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA, MD, Medicine |
| 1998 | Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA, BA, Molecular Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2009-2010 | Advanced Scholars Program, Medical Oncology Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2006-2009 | Clinical Fellowship, Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2003-2006 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD |
Board Certifications
| 2010 | Medical Oncology, American Board of Internal Medicine |
| 2006 | Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2017 - 2022
Assistant Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2010 - 2017
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Heeke S, Gay CM, Estecio MR, Tran H, Morris BB, Zhang B, Tang X, Raso MG, Rocha P, Lai S, Arriola E, Hofman P, Hofman V, Kopparapu P, Lovly CM, Concannon K, De Sousa LG, Lewis WE, Kondo K, Hu X, Tanimoto A, Vokes NI, Nilsson MB, Stewart A, Jansen M, Horváth I, Gaga M, Panagoulias V, Raviv Y, Frumkin D, Wasserstrom A, Shuali A, Schnabel CA, Xi Y, Diao L, Wang Q, Zhang J, Van Loo P, Wang J, Wistuba II, Byers LA, Heymach JV. Tumor- and circulating-free DNA methylation identifies clinically relevant small cell lung cancer subtypes. Cancer Cell 42(2):225-237.e5, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38278149.
- Gay CM, Stewart CA, Park EM, Diao L, Groves SM, Heeke S, Nabet BY, Fujimoto J, Solis LM, Lu W, Xi Y, Cardnell RJ, Wang Q, Fabbri G, Cargill KR, Vokes NI, Ramkumar K, Zhang B, Della Corte CM, Robson P, Swisher SG, Roth JA, Glisson BS, Shames DS, Wistuba II, Wang J, Quaranta V, Minna J, Heymach JV, Byers LA. Patterns of Transcription Factor Programs and Immune Pathway Activation Define Four Major Subtypes of SCLC with Distinct Therapeutic Vulnerabilities. Cancer Cell 39(3):346-360.e7, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33482121.
- Stewart CA, Gay CM, Xi Y, Sivajothi S, Sivakamasundari V, Fujimoto J, Bolisetty M, Hartsfield PM, Balasubramaniyan V, Chalishazar MD, Moran C, Kalhor N, Stewart J, Tran H, Swisher SG, Roth JA, Zhang J, de Groot J, Glisson B, Oliver TG, Heymach JV, Wistuba I, Robson P, Wang J, Byers LA. Single-cell Analyses Reveal Increased Intratumoral Heterogeneity after the Onset of Therapy Resistance in Small-cell Lung Cancer. Nat Cancer 1:423-436, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33521652.
- Sen T, Rodriguez BL, Chen L, Corte CMD, Morikawa N, Fujimoto J, Cristea S, Nguyen T, Diao L, Li L, Fan Y, Yang Y, Wang J, Glisson BS, Wistuba II, Sage J, Heymach JV, Gibbons DL, Byers LA. Targeting DNA Damage Response Promotes Anti-tumor Immunity through STING-mediated T-cell Activation in Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancer Discov 9(5):646-661, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30777870.
- Pietanza MC, Waqar SN, Krug LM, Dowlati A, Hann CL, Chiappori A, Owonikoko TK, Woo KM, Cardnell RJ, Fujimoto J, Long L, Diao L, Wang J, Bensman Y, Hurtado B, de Groot P, Sulman EP, Wistuba II, Chen A, Fleisher M, Heymach JV, Kris MG, Rudin CM, Byers LA. Randomized, Double-Blind, Phase II Study of Temozolomide in Combination with Either Veliparib or Placebo in Patients with Relapsed-Sensitive or Refractory Small-Cell Lung Cancer. J Clin Oncol 36(23):JCO2018777672, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29906251.
- Sen T, Tong P, Stewart CA, Cristea S, Valliani A, Shames DS, Redwood AB, Fan YH, Li L, Glisson BS, Minna JD, Sage J, Gibbons DL, Piwnica-Worms H, Heymach JV, Wang J, Byers LA. CHK1 Inhibition in Small Cell Lung Cancer Produces Single-agent Activity in Biomarker-defined Disease Subsets and Combination Activity with Cisplatin or Olaparib. Cancer Res 77(14):3870-3884, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28490518.
- de Bono J, Ramanathan RK, Mina L, Chugh R, Glaspy J, Rafii S, Kaye S, Sachdev J, Heymach J, Smith DC, Henshaw JW, Herriott A, Patterson M, Curtin NJ, Byers LA, Wainberg ZA. Phase I, Dose-Escalation, 2-Part Trial of Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Inhibitor Talazoparib in Patients with Advanced Germline BRCA1/2 Mutations and Selected Sporadic Cancers. Cancer Discov 7(6):620-629, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28242752.
- Skoulidis F, Byers LA, Diao L, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Tong P, Izzo J, Behrens C, Kadara H, Parra ER, Rodriguez-Canales J, Zhang J, Giri U, Gudikote J, Cortez MA, Yang C, Fan YH, Peyton M, Girard L, Coombes KR, Toniatti C, Heffernan TP, Choi M, Frampton GM, Miller V, Weinstein JN, Herbst RS, Wong KK, Zhang J, Sharma P, Mills GB, Hong WK, Minna JD, Allison JP, Futreal A, Wang J, Wistuba II, Heymach JV. Co-occurring Genomic Alterations Define Major Subsets of KRAS - Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma with Distinct biology, Immune Profiles and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities. Cancer Discov 5(8):860-877, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26069186.
- Hoadley KA, Yau C, Wolf DM, Cherniack AD, Tamborero D, Ng S, Leiserson MD, Niu B, McLellan MD, Uzunangelov V, Zhang J, Kandoth C, Akbani R, Shen H, Omberg L, Chu A, Margolin AA, Van't Veer LJ, Lopez-Bigas N, Laird PW, Raphael BJ, Ding L, Robertson AG, Byers LA, Mills GB, Weinstein JN, Van Waes C, Chen Z, Collisson EA, Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, Benz CC, Perou CM, Stuart JM. Multi-platform Analysis of 12 cancer Types Reveals Molecular Classification within and Across Tissues-of-origin. Cell 158(4):929-44, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25109877.
- Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Comprehensive Molecular Profiling of Lung Adenocarcinoma. Nature 511(7511):543-50, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25079552.
- Byers LA, Diao L, Wang J, Saintigny P, Girard L, Peyton M, Shen L, Fan Y, Giri U, Tumula PK, Nilsson MB, Gudikote J, Tran H, Cardnell RJ, Bearss DJ, Warner SL, Foulks JM, Kanner SB, Gandhi V, Krett N, Rosen ST, Kim ES, Herbst RS, Blumenschein GR, Lee JJ, Lippman SM, Ang KK, Mills GB, Hong WK, Weinstein JN, Wistuba II, Coombes KR, Minna JD, Heymach JV. An Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition (EMT) Gene Signature Predicts Resistance to EGFR and PI3K Inhibitors and Identifies Axl as a Therapeutic Target for Overcoming EGFR Inhibitor Resistance. Clin Cancer Res Comment in Clinical Cancer Research, 2013 19(1):279-290, 2013. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 23091115.
- Byers LA, Wang J, Nilsson MB, Fujimoto J, Saintigny P, Yordy J, Giri U, Peyton M, Fan YH, Diao L, Masrorpour F, Shen L, Liu W, Duchemann B, Tumula P, Bhardwaj V, Welsh J, Weber S, Glisson BS, Kalhor N, Wistuba II, Girard L, Lippman SM, Mills GB, Coombes KR, Weinstein JN, Minna JD, Heymach JV. Proteomic Profiling Identifies Dysregulated Pathways in Small Cell Lung Cancer and Novel Therapeutic Targets including PARP1. Cancer Discov (In the Spotlight, Cancer Discovery, 2012 2(9):798-811, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22961666.
- Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Comprehensive Genomic Characterization of Squamous Cell Lung Cancers. Nature 489(7417):519-25, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22960745.
- Rosenwald A, Wright G, Chan WC, Connors JM, Campo E, Fisher RI, Gascoyne RD, Muller-Hermelink HK, Smeland EB, Giltnane JM, Hurt EM, Zhao H, Averett L, Yang L, Wilson WH, Jaffe ES, Simon R, Klausner RD, Powell J, Duffey PL, Longo DL, Greiner TC, Weisenburger DD, Sanger WG, Dave BJ, Lynch JC, Vose J, Armitage JO, Montserrat E, López-Guillermo A, Grogan TM, Miller TP, LeBlanc M, Ott G, Kvaloy S, Delabie J, Holte H, Krajci P, Stokke T, Staudt LM. The Use of Molecular Profiling to Predict Survival after Chemotherapy for Diffuse Large-B-cell Lymphoma. N Engl J Med 346(25):1937-47, 2002. PMID: 12075054.
Invited Articles
- Sen T, Gay CM, Byers LA. Targeting DNA Damage Repair in Small Cell Lung Cancer and the Biomarker Landscape. Transl Lung Cancer Res 7(1):50-68, 2018.
Editorials
- Gay CM, Parseghian CM, Byers LA. This Is Our Cells Under Pressure: Decreased DNA Damage Repair in Response to Targeted Therapies Facilitates the Emergence of Drug-Resistant Clones. Cancer Cell 37(1):5-7, 2020. PMID: 31951562.
- Stewart CA, Byers LA. Altering the Course of Small Cell Lung Cancer: Targeting Cancer Stem Cells via LSD1 Inhibition. Cancer Cell 28(1):4-6, 2015. PMID: 26175409.
Books (edited and written)
- Glisson BS, Byers LA. Pathobiology and Staging of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Lung. Ed(s) Lilenbaum RC, Nicholson A, Jett JR. UpToDate, 2014.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Novel Therapeutic Approaches for Enhancing Anti-tumor Immunity in SCLC |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) |
| Funding Source: | NIH-NCATS |
| Role: | Co-Investigator and Co-Core Lead - TL1 Program |
| Title: | Evaluation of Pre- and post-treatment Biopsy Tissue from SCLC Patients Treated with the Aurora Kinase B Inhibitor AZD2811-NP on Study NCT02579226 for Biomarker Expression |
| Funding Source: | AstraZeneca |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | SCLC Molecular Subtypes to Predict Targeted and Immune Therapy Response |
| Funding Source: | Lungevity Foundation |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Molecular and Immunological Heterogeneity of Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) and its Impact on Relapse and Therapeutic Response |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator/Project Director |
| Title: | UT SPORE: Developing New Rationale, personalized Medicine for Lung cancer. Therapeutic Targeting of Replication Stress for Tumor Cell Killing and Anti-tumor Immunity in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI SPORE |
| Role: | Applied/Basic/Clinical Co-Leader |
| Title: | Evaluation of Aurora Kinase B Inhibition in Preclinical Models of SCLC |
| Funding Source: | AstraZeneca |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Generation of Humanisable CTC-DX Models from Anti-PDL1 Progressing SCLC Patients to Evaluate Post-CASPIAN Candidate Combinations |
| Funding Source: | AstraZeneca |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | CPRIT Early Clinical Investigator Award-Carl Gay - Molecular Subtypes as Predictors for Precision Small Cell Lung Cancer Therapeutic Response |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Mentor |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified August 20, 2024