NYU’s Dr. Kwok‑Kin Wong and Deerfield’s Joe Pearlberg on lung cancer treatments, then and now
Deerfield’s VP of Scientific Affairs, Joe Pearlberg, MD, PhD, joined NYU Langone’s Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD at Cure in New York City to discuss how breakthroughs at the bench have led to transformative new treatments for patients with lung cancer.
Dr. Wong is a physician-scientist at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center who specializes in treating people with lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other malignant lung conditions.
From early EGFR-targeted therapies to today’s mutation-driven treatment landscape, learn how multidisciplinary teams – including those led by Dr. Wong! – turned basic science into what is today’s precision medicine.
✨ Key Insights ✨
😶🌫 From bleak outcomes to targeted therapies
In the early 2000s, standard chemotherapy for lung cancer offered little meaningful benefit, with median survival measured in months and indistinguishable survival curves across regimens.
👷♂ Building translational models that matter
Dr. Wong’s lab (and others’) worked to create genetically engineered models that faithfully recapitulated key mutations, providing powerful tools with which to test successive generations of targeted therapies.
“You have to ask a question that [has a] direct impact on patient care.”
🧪 Precision oncology: The new standard
Today Dr. Wong describes a “day-and-night” difference in his lung cancer clinic: every patient is genomically profiled, and treatment decisions are made based on oncogenic drivers rather than histology alone.
☠️ Crossing the valley of death
Dr. Wong emphasizes that uncertainty in traditional funding models has made partnership feel increasingly critical, highlighting models such as foundation collaborations and academic-venture structures that can mature early assets to key inflection points.
He notes that investors often demand rigorous target validation (gain- and loss-of-function work, in vivo modeling, clear prevalence & market data) beyond what is required for publications or grants.
🤝 Partnering early
Dr. Wong advises that “no time is too early” to engage your university’s tech transfer office or speak to potential partners, underscoring the value of iterative dialogue that can refine your best ideas.
“Any idea that you have is never too early… The worst they can say is no!”
Deerfield’s collaboration with NYU Langone Health, Amethyst Innovations, is designed to provide exactly the kind of development expertise and strategic support needed to bridge early-stage discoveries into translational programs – and, hopefully, new therapies for patients.