Ella Äng Eklund: How changes in the KRAS gene affect treatment outcomes in lung cancer
The aim of Ella Äng Eklund’s doctoral thesis was to broadly explore how alterations in the KRAS gene influence the outcome of current treatments for lung cancer, to identify new biomarkers for immunotherapy, and to investigate how aging impacts disease progression and may reveal new therapeutic vulnerabilities.
ELLA ÄNG EKLUND
Dissertation defense: 28 November 2025 (click for details)
Doctoral thesis: Precision medicine in non-small cell lung cancer with a focus on KRAS-mutations
Research area: Surgery
Sahlgrenska Academy, The Institute of Clinical Sciences
Zoom link to the dissertation defense
Lung cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancer types worldwide, and it remains a challenging disease to treat. The overall five-year survival rate is around 20 percent. The main cause of lung cancer is smoking, which damages our DNA. In about one-third of patients, this damage leads to changes – mutations - in the KRAS gene, causing continuous signals that drive the cells to grow and divide uncontrollably. Historically, such mutations have been associated with a poor prognosis. However, with the introduction of immunotherapy, a new type of cancer treatment, the outlook may have improved.
“I have focused on comparing outcomes for patients with KRAS-mutated lung cancer to those without such mutations. I have also studied new potential biomarkers* that may help identify which patients are likely to respond well to immunotherapy,” says Ella Äng Eklund, resident physician at the Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and a doctoral student at the Institute of Clinical Sciences.
She has also been involved in a larger project examining how aging influences cancer development and the ability of cancer cells to spread, leading to the discovery of new potential therapeutic targets.
Promising results – but further research is needed
The findings from the thesis suggest that having a KRAS mutation appears to be beneficial when treated with immunotherapy. However, this does not apply to all types of KRAS mutations.
“One of the most important findings is that patients who have mutations in both KRAS and another gene called LRP1B seem to respond exceptionally well to immunotherapy. We may have identified a new predictive biomarker, which we hope to validate in larger studies. We have also identified new potential therapeutic targets that I hope will be tested in clinical trials in the future.”
Rewarding to work in a translational research group
What has been the most rewarding and challenging part of your PhD project?
“The best part is contributing new knowledge about lung cancer with the hope that it will benefit patients. It has been very rewarding to work in a translational research group, helping to translate laboratory findings to patient data. One of the main challenges has been balancing research with clinical work, as this has sometimes slowed down the progress of the project. Since I started my PhD just before the pandemic, we also had to adjust and redesign parts of some studies.”
Text: Susanne Lj Westergren
* A biomarker is a measurable biological substance—such as a gene, protein, or hormone—found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues.