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Celebrating 20 Years of Progress in Lung Cancer Research and Treatment
Read time: 5 minutes.
This year marks 20 years since researchers made a key discovery that changed the face of lung cancer research and treatment.
By uncovering EGFR’s role in lung cancer, researchers...
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Brain Mets Basics for NSCLC: What Are Brain Metastases and How Do We Treat Them?
Read time: 2 minutes. Brain metastases (also called brain mets) develop when cancer from somewhere else in the body spreads to the brain. Over time, tumors can become metastatic... -
Screening and Early Detection of Lung Cancer: Highlights from WCLC and ESMO 2024
Lung cancer screening and early detection were major topics of discussion at the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), held in San Diego from September 7-10, and the European... -
Cell-Based Therapies for EGFR-Positive NSCLC: Today and Tomorrow
Join us for an interactive Facebook Live discussion to learn how immune cells can be engineered to target EGFR+ NSCLC. This webinar features Jill Feldman and Laura Book, members of... -
Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Highlights from WCLC and ESMO 2024
This year, the first three weeks of September were packed with lung cancer research updates at the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) from September 7-10 in San Diego followed... -
Eating Healthy on the Mediterranean Diet
Read time: 3 minutes. Oncology dietitian Lori Bumbaco takes us on a culinary journey, exploring why experts consistently rank the Mediterranean diet as the number one choice for... -
How Do Drugs Get Approved (and Fast-Tracked) by the FDA?
Read time: 5 minutes. This is Part 3 in our series on how drugs get approved to treat lung cancer. Part 1: Understanding Clinical Trials - Why Are They Important for Drug... -
New Chemotherapy-Free Treatment Combination Approved for EGFR+ Lung Cancer
On August 19, 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new treatment option for people newly diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung... -
How We Define Success for a Clinical Trial
Read time: 6 minutes. This is Part 2 of 3 in our series on how drugs get approved to treat lung cancer. Make sure to read Part 1 on the phases of clinical trials and why they are... -
EGFR Virtual Meetup
EGFR patients/survivors - Join us the 1st Wednesday of every month to connect with others who share common experiences and build your community.
Brain Mets Basics for NSCLC: What Are Brain Metastases and How Do We Treat Them?
Brain Mets Basics for NSCLC: What Are Brain Metastases and How Do We Treat Them?
Read time: 2 minutes. Brain metastases (also called brain mets) develop when cancer from somewhere else in the body spreads to the brain. Over time, tumors can become metastatic (travel to other parts of the body). When lung cancer travels to the brain, it requires specialized treatments that can cross the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a tight network of blood vessels and tissue that allows some substances, such as oxygen and water, into the brain while…
Screening and Early Detection of Lung Cancer: Highlights from WCLC and ESMO 2024
Screening and Early Detection of Lung Cancer: Highlights from WCLC and ESMO 2024
Lung cancer screening and early detection were major topics of discussion at the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), held in San Diego from September 7-10, and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference in Barcelona from September 13-17. This fourth and final blog in our series of updates summarizes highlights from these discussions. You can read the other update blogs from these fall science meetings: Metastatic NSCLC Highlights Small Cell Lung Cancer…
How Do Drugs Get Approved (and Fast-Tracked) by the FDA?
How Do Drugs Get Approved (and Fast-Tracked) by the FDA?
Read time: 5 minutes. This is Part 3 in our series on how drugs get approved to treat lung cancer. Part 1: Understanding Clinical Trials - Why Are They Important for Drug Development? Part 2: How We Define Success for a Clinical Trial The United States federal government aims to regulate prescription drugs to ensure people are receiving medication that’s safe and effective. Every prescribed drug in the U.S. has gone through a rigorous testing process that can…
New Chemotherapy-Free Treatment Combination Approved for EGFR+ Lung Cancer
New Chemotherapy-Free Treatment Combination Approved for EGFR+ Lung Cancer
On August 19, 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new treatment option for people newly diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations. The recent approval offers a new chemotherapy-free treatment for patients—the combination of lazertinib (Lazcluze™) with amivantamab-vmjw (Rybrevant®). Prior to this approval, treatment with osimertinib (Tagrisso®) alone…
How We Define Success for a Clinical Trial
How We Define Success for a Clinical Trial
Read time: 6 minutes. This is Part 2 of 3 in our series on how drugs get approved to treat lung cancer. Make sure to read Part 1 on the phases of clinical trials and why they are important for new drug development. We all want a treatment for lung cancer that is completely safe and entirely effective. While researchers are working toward that goal, the reality is we aren’t there yet. Every treatment we are considering comes with potential benefits and side effects. The…
Understanding Clinical Trials: Why Are They Important for Drug Development?
Understanding Clinical Trials: Why Are They Important for Drug Development?
Read time: 3 minutes.This is Part 1 in a 3-part series explaining how new drugs and treatments get approved to treat lung cancer. Parts 2 and 3 will be published in the coming weeks.Have you ever wondered how a new medicine or drug to treat lung cancer is brought to the people who need it? That’s what clinical trials help us do.According to the National Cancer Institute, a clinical trial is a type of research study that tests how well new medical approaches (such as screening tests, prevention…
Countdown to ILCSC24: Bringing the World’s Experts Right to Your Living Room
Countdown to ILCSC24: Bringing the World’s Experts Right to Your Living Room
Read time: 3 minutes. One of LUNGevity’s two flagship survivorship events, the International Lung Cancer Survivorship Conference (ILCSC), is being held virtually September 20 – 21, 2024. This is a free, online event that allows people with lung cancer and caregivers from around the world to join from the comfort of their own homes and hear from a star-studded lineup of lung cancer experts discussing the latest advances in research and treatment. You can register today for…
How Can Patients and Researchers Design Clinical Trials Together?
How Can Patients and Researchers Design Clinical Trials Together?
Read time: 2 minutes. Traditionally, people associate getting involved in lung cancer research with enrolling in a clinical trial. But most don’t realize they can also partner with researchers behind the scenes and get involved in designing clinical trials. In the first of a three-part series, Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research has partnered with LUNGevity to understand the role people with lung cancer can play in developing clinical trials. Through panelist…
Safely Bring Yoga, Dietary Supplements, Exercise, and More into Your Lung Cancer Journey
Safely Bring Yoga, Dietary Supplements, Exercise, and More into Your Lung Cancer Journey
Read time: 2 minutesIntegrative oncology adds holistic approaches—such as acupuncture, nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness—into a treatment plan. Research shows these interventions can have a tremendous impact on people going through lung cancer treatment and their quality of life. Unfortunately, they are also topics riddled with myths and falsehoods. LUNGevity spoke to an expert to help sort out the facts from the fiction. In the webinar below, Gabriel Lopez, MD, medical director of…
Chemo Shortage Didn’t Materialize ‘The Way We Initially Feared’
Chemo Shortage Didn’t Materialize ‘The Way We Initially Feared’
This March, LUNGevity Foundation partnered with CURE for their “Speaking Out” video series, inviting Amy Moore, PhD, vice president of global engagement and patient partnerships at LUNGevity Foundation, to discuss recent chemotherapy shortages. During the interview, Dr. Moore addressed the critical issues posed by the chemotherapy shortage, offering valuable insights into its origins, impact on people with lung cancer, available alternatives, and ongoing efforts to address disparities. Her…
FDA Approves New Treatment Option: Osimertinib Plus Chemotherapy for EGFR+ NSCLC
FDA Approves New Treatment Option: Osimertinib Plus Chemotherapy for EGFR+ NSCLC
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new treatment option for people diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations.Prior to this approval, treatment with osimertinib alone was the gold-standard targeted therapy for this population. The recent approval offers another option to patients – the combination of osimertinib with chemotherapy. This FDA approval is based on the…
Lung Cancer Masterclass: Get Smart About Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer Masterclass: Get Smart About Lung Cancer
In the past five years, the lung cancer community has seen an astonishing number of new treatments. As our understanding of lung cancer has deepened, the older treatment approaches have also become more effective and efficient. These options are fantastic steps toward improving the overall survival and quality of life for people living with lung cancer, but it can be difficult for patients and caregivers to keep track of the new drug treatments and scientific advancements. …
Questions to Ask About Clinical Trials
Questions to Ask About Clinical Trials
Asking your doctor and medical team questions about clinical trials is a helpful way to decide if they are a good fit for you. You may already have some in mind, but a few basic questions to ask and get answered before making a decision are:Do you know of any clinical trials for my type and stage of lung cancer?What are the benefits and risks of this clinical trial?What are the eligibility guidelines?How long does the study last?Will you still be in charge of my care?What are the costs, and…
Clinical Trial Phases
Clinical Trial Phases
The four phases of lung cancer clinical trials each serve a different and important purpose. From testing the safety of a new treatment to its effectiveness and long-term outcomes, this short video explains how researchers use clinical trials for new lung cancer treatments.Phases of a Clinical Trial:1. Safety of the new treatment 2. Does the cancer respond to the treatment 3. Is this new treatment better than the current options 4. Studies the long-term benefits and side effects
What Is a Clinical Trial
What Is a Clinical Trial
Lung cancer clinical trials are carefully designed research studies to evaluate and learn more about new drugs and treatments. They give people the ability to participate in lung cancer research and access to new treatments that otherwise may not be available to them, all under the close supervision of medical experts.
Watch Recorded Expert Sessions From ILCSC
Watch Recorded Expert Sessions From ILCSC
The International Lung Cancer Survivorship Conference (ILCSC) is a free virtual educational conference for people with lung cancer, caregivers, and advocates. The 2023 conference was held September 22-23. The recorded sessions from this conference are available to registered participants through December 21, 2023, at www.lungevity.org/ilcsc. If you did not register for the conference but would like to view the recordings, you may still register for free access. The recordings are…
Decentralized Trials: Bringing Clinical Trials Closer to the Patient
Decentralized Trials: Bringing Clinical Trials Closer to the Patient
While participating in clinical trials can provide substantial benefits to people with lung cancer, the resources required to do so may pose significant hurdles, especially to those who don’t live close to where trials are held, such as academic medical centers or major oncology network sites. Decentralized clinical trials remove some hurdles to trial participation for patients and are thus important for improving trial access for larger and more diverse groups of people. The U.S. Food and Drug…
Navigating Hope: How Comprehensive Biomarker Testing is Guiding Lung Cancer Care
Navigating Hope: How Comprehensive Biomarker Testing is Guiding Lung Cancer Care
Join us for a discussion on lung cancer biomarkers to learn what biomarker testing is, why it’s important, and how it can be used to optimize your treatment plans. We are thrilled to welcome our panelists: Balazs Halmos, MD, a thoracic medical oncologist from Montefiore Medical Center in New York; Elizabeth Ravera, a patient navigator at Montefiore; and a patient living with lung cancer who tested positive for the ALK biomarker. The panel is moderated by LUNGevity's Amy Moore, PhD, VP of Global…
EGFR+ Lung Cancer: Going Beyond Osimertinib
EGFR+ Lung Cancer: Going Beyond Osimertinib
Learn about what's next once osimertinib stops working in EGFR+ lung cancer. EGFR Resisters co-founders Jill Feldman and Ivy Elkins, and 2021 EGFR Resisters/LUNGevity Foundation awardees Christine Lovly, MD, PhD, and Helena Yu, MD, share updates for the community. This video was recorded on Facebook Live on May 11, 2023.
Finding Clinical Trials for Lung Cancer: Tools and Resources
Finding Clinical Trials for Lung Cancer: Tools and Resources
Clinical trials are an important option for patients because the newest treatment approaches, not available otherwise, are being tested in them. Clinical trial research leads to more advancements and potential treatment options, and the therapies used today were once tested in clinical trials. Continued progress is only possible if patients with lung cancer volunteer to participate in the clinical trial process.
There are many ongoing clinical trials testing new lung cancer treatments,…
RET, MET, and EGFR: An unusual tale of three oncogenes in lung cancer
RET, MET, and EGFR: An unusual tale of three oncogenes in lung cancer
LUNGevity's Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, Executive Director, Research, discusses innovative research into RET+ NSCLC with patient advocates and the scientist conducting the studies. Panelists include Omaima Salous (diagnosed with RET+ NSCLC and co-founder of The Hamoui Foundation), Dr. Hilary Hammell (diagnosed with RET+ NSCLC and co-chair of RETpositive), and Dr. Tejas Patil (Assistant Professor, University of Colorado). The discussion focuses on Dr. Patil’s RET+ NSCLC research project…
Real-World Drug Development at the Targeted Therapies of Lung Cancer Meeting
Real-World Drug Development at the Targeted Therapies of Lung Cancer Meeting
The development of new treatments for any disease relies on the collaborative efforts of many different stakeholders, such as scientists, clinicians, patient advocacy groups, regulators, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
During scientific conferences that happen throughout the year, stakeholders cobble together opportunities to discuss the current state of treatments and strategize ways to bring emerging lifesaving treatments to patients.
Each year, there is one key conference…
Ask Your Oncologist the Right Questions
Ask Your Oncologist the Right Questions
Communication is critical to a positive doctor-patient relationship. Knowing the right questions to ask helps ensure you leave your appointments with the information and answers you need. Being prepared may also lessen anxiety and help provide a sense of control. Meeting with your oncologist, especially when first diagnosed or deciding on a treatment plan, are times when being prepared with questions is necessary.
LUNGevity has downloadable lists of questions that you can bring to…
Researchers Make New Inroads for EGFR Exon20+ NSCLC Patients
Researchers Make New Inroads for EGFR Exon20+ NSCLC Patients
While our bodies can have a wide range of naturally occurring, harmless mutations in different genes, some mutations, called driver mutations, are key to driving the development of cancer. There are many driver mutations. Researchers have been developing drugs that target specific driver mutations in lung cancer, creating therapies for those patients whose lung cancer harbors them.
Early Targeting of EGFR
In the early 2000s, EGFR was the first gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to be…
Targeted Therapy Options for Patients with EGFR Exon20+ NSCLC
Targeted Therapy Options for Patients with EGFR Exon20+ NSCLC
Researchers have made tremendous progress in treating lung cancer by identifying key mutations in genes that drive the growth of lung cancer. Once these “driver” mutations are identified, researchers can work to target these mutations with specific treatments, called targeted therapies.FDA-approved targeted therapies exist for treating EGFR-positive NSCLC, or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients whose tumors test positive for exon19 and exon21 L858R mutations in the EGFR (epidermal…
How Metastatic Brain Tumors Affect Your Lung Cancer Care
How Metastatic Brain Tumors Affect Your Lung Cancer Care
Brain metastases are known to occur in approximately 25% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer. This webinar dives into the details of brain metastasis in lung cancer to explore their signs and symptoms. It also includes a discussion of treatment considerations.
Through this webinar, you will learn to:
Understand how brain metastasis occurs
Keep an eye out for signs & symptoms of brain mets
Understand treatment options and management techniques
This webinar was created in…
Understanding Pulmonary Rehab
Understanding Pulmonary Rehab
Pulmonary rehab expert Debbie Koehl, MS, RRT-NPS, AE-C, FAARC, speaks to LUNGevity's Survivorship Navigator, Kristi Griffith, to explain what pulmonary rehabilitation is, explore the benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation, and gain key insights about how to obtain pulmonary rehabilitation for yourself or a loved one. The discussion is followed by an informal Q&A with other lung cancer survivors. This recording was made during one of LUNGevity Foundation's Virtual Meetups -- a free resource…
Pneumonitis: A Common Side Effect
Pneumonitis: A Common Side Effect
In this video, nurse practitioner Lauren Welch, MSN, NP-C, AOCNP, from the Sarah Cannon Research Institute at Tennessee Oncology offers a quick review of pneumonitis - a common side effect of some lung cancer treatments. Survivors and caregivers can learn: What is pneumonitis? What causes it? How is it treated? What symptoms should we look out for?
Important Advice for Patients with Newly Diagnosed EGFR-Positive Lung Cancer
Important Advice for Patients with Newly Diagnosed EGFR-Positive Lung Cancer
Lung cancer expert Dr. Zosia Piotrowska speaks with Dr. Amy Moore, LUNGevity’s VP of Global Engagement and Patient Partnerships, to discuss the key information everyone with newly diagnosed EGFR-positive lung cancer needs to know. Dr. Piotrowska is a researcher and thoracic oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.
Introduction to Radiation Therapy
Introduction to Radiation Therapy
Lung cancer survivor Jill Feldman joins radiation therapy experts Drs. Drew Moghanaki and Kristin Higgins to provide an overview of radiation therapy – including discussions of when this treatment is recommended, how the treatment is administered, and which side effects are most common.