A six-figure grant will enable Memorial Cancer Institute in Hollywood to further its research into the effect targeted drug therapy drugs have on lung cancer.

Dr. Luis E. Raez (pictured) is leading the research into how using liquid biopsies can better determine the DNA makeup of tumors, which enables doctors to customize chemotherapy treatment for each patient without exposing them to radiation during the process.

“We’ve been able to follow the changes of the tumoral DNA in these patients and, in most cases, predict the response to targeted therapy,” says Dr. Raez, chief scientific officer and medical director at Memorial Cancer Institute. “That enables us to be able to predict treatment response or failure ahead of CT scans or PET scans, meaning patients will be able to monitor their response to cancer therapy without being irradiated.”

The $100,000 grant was courtesy of the Community Foundation of Broward and is part of the organization’s ‘Cancel Cancer’ initiative that strives to provide funding for local cancer research to benefit Broward residents. Memorial Cancer Institute was recently recognized as a “Florida Cancer Center of Excellence” by the state’s Department of Health.

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.

For more information, visit https://www.mhs.net/services/cancer