How air pollution and neighborhood stress affect lung tumors in African American patients
Official title: Air Pollution and Neighborhood Stressors as Determinants of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Mutation Patterns and Recurrence
Funded at Beckman Research Institute/city of Hope · NIH-11379068 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether long-term air pollution and neighborhood disadvantage change tumor DNA and short-term recurrence risk in early-stage lung cancer among African American patients.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Beckman Research Institute/city of Hope NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Duarte, United States) |
| Project start | May 10, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $1,179,028 |
| NIH project number | 5R37CA284040-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11379068 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are African American adults with stage I–II non-small cell lung cancer who have available tumor tissue and a residential history in California, Georgia, or the Detroit area.
✕Less likely to help
People without tumor tissue, those with more advanced (stage III–IV) lung cancer, or those living far outside the study regions are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will use your tumor tissue and medical records and perform whole-genome sequencing to find the types and order of mutations in the cancer. They will link your home address history to air pollution (PM2.5 and NOx) levels and neighborhood measures like deprivation and social vulnerability to build a personalized exposure profile. The study will include 300 African American patients with stage I–II non-small cell lung cancer from California, Georgia, and Detroit and will monitor whether cancer returns within two years after surgery. The team will also compare tumor genomes from never-smoking participants to a national dataset (Sherlock-Lung) to see whether patterns differ.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could point to environmental and neighborhood factors that drive tumor changes and recurrence, informing prevention, follow-up care, and targeted interventions for high-risk patients.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies link air pollution to lung cancer risk and some mutational signatures, but pairing whole-genome tumor sequencing with detailed neighborhood exposure measures in African American patients is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Beckman Research Institute/city of Hope
Duarte, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Erhunmwunsee, Loretta — Beckman Research Institute/city of Hope
- Study coordinator: Erhunmwunsee, Loretta
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.