# Project 1: Lung Cancer

> **NIH NIH P20** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $132,883

## Abstract

PROJECT 1: PROJECT SUMMARY
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States (U.S.) with a projected estimate
of 228,820 new cases and 135,720 deaths from lung cancer in 2020. Nationally, non-Hispanic African
American/Black (AA/Black) men have a disproportionately higher incidence and rate of death from lung cancer
compared to their non-Hispanic White (White) male counterparts; however, no such lung cancer disparities exist
between AA/Black and white women nationally. Notably the increased rates of lung cancer mortality seen in
AA/Blacks relative to their white male counterparts appears to be independent of smoking duration, intensity,
quit years, and socioecominc status. Moreover, the underlying molecular mechanisms that contribute to
increased lung cancer in AA/Black men remains to be fully elucidated. These disparities are likely driven by a
complex and poorly understood interaction between inequities in access care, segregation, upstream
determinants of health, chronic exposure to community stress, tobacco exposure, and molecular oncogenic
drivers. Epigenetic regulation drives normal cellular growth and development, and the deregulation of epigenetic
processes are certainly observed in lung cancer. However, epigenetic-based therapeutic targeting in cancers
using DNA hypomethylating agents have largely been unsuccessful in clinical trials. Understanding the
epigenetic processes associated with increased cancer development and growth can uncover social and
biophysical mechanisms of lung cancer contributing to the current lung cancer disparity in AA/Black men. We
have identified protein arginine methylation as a potentially exciting novel lung cancer biomarker and potential
drug target, protein arginine methyl transferases 6 (PRMT6). We have determined that 1) PRMT6 expression is
increased in AA/Black men; 2) smoking stimulates PRMT6 expression; and 3) PRMT6 overexpression in an in
vivo model drives lung tumor development. We hypothesize that the combined effects of community stress and
smoking in AA/Black men may be contributing to the AA/Black male “Smoking Paradox” and that PRMT6 may
serve as a suitable biomarker capturing these combined exposures (i.e. community stress and smoking) with
the potential benefit of enhancing early detection of lung cancer in AA/Black men. TRACER Project 1 aims to
measure the interaction between the “community-ome” and the molecular determinants of lung cancer to better
define the risks among AA/Black men. Gaining a better understanding of PRMT6 and its role as a molecular
biomarker will be an important first step to establishing this innovative approach. Project 1 will lay the foundation
for a future full SPORE to enhance the identification and screening accuracy for AA/Black men at risk for lung
cancer. As such, it has become clear that the addition of molecular biomarkers, e.g. PRMT6 among others, could
potentially improve the effectiveness of LCa screening. The findings from the p...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10493289
- **Project number:** 5P20CA252717-02
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SERGE PATRICK NANASINKAM
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $132,883
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-20 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10493289

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10493289, Project 1: Lung Cancer (5P20CA252717-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10493289. Licensed CC0.

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