IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Celebrating 20 Years of Progress in Lung Cancer Research and Treatment

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 developed a new class of drugs—targeted therapies—designed to target specific mutations in lung cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. As we’ve welcomed this era of precision medicine, we’ve also benefited from other treatment progress in lung cancer—including the development…

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…

Medscape Onsite: Riding the Wave of NSCLC Updates From San Diego

Medscape Onsite: Riding the Wave of NSCLC Updates From San Diego

Deciphering the Latest Clinical Data for EGFR-Mutated Advanced NSCLC: Unveiling Expert Insights

Deciphering the Latest Clinical Data for EGFR-Mutated Advanced NSCLC: Unveiling Expert Insights

First-Line Amivantamab Plus Lazertinib Demonstrates Promise in Patients With Advanced EGFR-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

First-Line Amivantamab Plus Lazertinib Demonstrates Promise in Patients With Advanced EGFR-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Amivantamab Plus Chemotherapy Numerically Improved OS for Patients with EGFR-Mutant, Advanced NSCLC

Second Interim Analysis Results From MARIPOSA-2

Amivantamab Plus Chemotherapy Numerically Improved OS for Patients with EGFR-Mutant, Advanced NSCLC

Second Interim Analysis Results From MARIPOSA-2

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…

Summit Therapeutics Announces Completion of Enrollment in Its Phase III HARMONi Trial in 2L+ EGFRm NSCLC

Summit Therapeutics Announces Completion of Enrollment in Its Phase III HARMONi Trial in 2L+ EGFRm NSCLC

September 2024 FDA Roundup: Key Decisions Drive Oncology Forward

September 2024 FDA Roundup: Key Decisions Drive Oncology Forward

First-line treatment of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

First-line treatment of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Highlights from WCLC and ESMO 2024

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 by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference from September 13-17 in Barcelona.  We wish we could have cloned ourselves and been in both places; however, we were able to attend WCLC in person and ESMO virtually. It’s impossible to condense so much lung cancer science into a single blog, so…

ctDNA EGFRm helps pinpoint who benefits from 1L osimertinib-chemo combo

ctDNA EGFRm helps pinpoint who benefits from 1L osimertinib-chemo combo

Overview of MARIPOSA Study

Overview of MARIPOSA Study

Tagrisso Approved for Stage III Unresectable EGFR-Mutated NSCLC

Tagrisso Approved for Stage III Unresectable EGFR-Mutated NSCLC

Eating Healthy on the Mediterranean Diet

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 healthy eating. In addition to the studied health benefits, Lori highlights the unique foods and flavors that make this diet special and provides simple, practical tips on how to incorporate them into your daily meals. In the video below, Lori offers a firsthand look at how easy and enjoyable it can be…

Cell-Based Therapies for EGFR-Positive NSCLC: Today and Tomorrow

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 the EGFR Resisters, and Alexandre Reuben, PhD, from the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Reuben is a 2023 EGFR Resisters/LUNGevity Foundation grant recipient who works on  engineering T cells to treat several types of lung cancer. The discussion will be moderated by Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, Executive Director of…

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…

2024 ASCO: Highlights of Lung Cancer Research

2024 ASCO: Highlights of Lung Cancer Research

Read time: 8 minutesThousands of oncologists, scientists, biotech and pharmaceutical representatives, patients, and advocates (including LUNGevity staff) met to discuss lifesaving cancer research at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago from May 31 through June 4, 2024. The theme for this year’s conference, “The Art and Science of Cancer Care: From Comfort to Cure,” highlighted the importance of using both our creativity and our scientific…

Is Lung Cancer in Young Adults Hereditary?

Is Lung Cancer in Young Adults Hereditary?

Read time: 2 minutesThe question of whether lung cancer is hereditary is becoming increasingly important in the lung cancer community. While the average age of lung cancer diagnosis is approximately 70 years old, we are now seeing young adults in their 20s and 30s getting lung cancer.We currently suspect lung cancer in young adults may be caused by environmental factors (such as air pollution or chemical exposure), their genetic make-up, or some combination of these factors.We cannot say for…

Researcher Aims to Bring 360-Degree Care to Young Adults Living with Lung Cancer

Researcher Aims to Bring 360-Degree Care to Young Adults Living with Lung Cancer

Young adults (less than 50 years of age) are being diagnosed with lung cancer at increasing rates. They tend to be women of Hispanic or Asian descent and are typically diagnosed with advanced-stage lung cancer. Research is ongoing to help us develop effective options to treat these patients medically, but little is known about the effects of the diagnosis on their mental, social, and financial health or their family planning. To help us better understand the needs of this growing…

Advice and Insights from Author and Two-Time Cancer Survivor Kathy Giusti

Advice and Insights from Author and Two-Time Cancer Survivor Kathy Giusti

Kathy Giusti joined LUNGevity for a special conversation about her life as a cancer patient, caregiver, and the founder and former CEO of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Her involvement with the medical system from these different perspectives inspired her to write her recent book, Fatal to Fearless: 12 Steps to Beating Cancer in a Broken Medical System. You can watch the full 40-minute conversation with Kathy or use the timestamps below to learn more about the topics and advice…

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…

Highlights of AACR 2024: Where the Laboratory Meets the Patient

Highlights of AACR 2024: Where the Laboratory Meets the Patient

Read time: 7 minutesIt’s spring! The daffodils bloom, the days become longer, and I attend the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). For those of you who are new to this meeting, it is the largest gathering of laboratory scientists and clinicians in the world—coming together to discuss how to take science from the bench (laboratory) to patients and communities. This year’s meeting was held in sunny San Diego and brought together more than 23,000 attendees. Below…

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…

Caregivers: Planning the Self-Care Journey

Caregivers: Planning the Self-Care Journey

This webinar explains the phases of the caregiving cycle and offers tips and strategies for meeting the challenges of each phase.  The discussion features Michelle Bolden, founder and chief education officer for Call For Caring Inc., a nonprofit organization educating and uplifting family caregivers in Atlanta. Michelle also hosts two podcasts -- "Call For Caring on Purpose" and "The Empowerment Hour."  The webinar was recorded on March 7, 2024, as a Facebook Live event. It is hosted…