Treatment & Research Takeaways: ESMO 2023 Meeting

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) recently held its annual conference from October 20 – 24, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. ESMO represents one of the largest gatherings of the international oncology community, and this year’s meeting had over 30,000 registered attendees from around the world. Though October 19th brought record rainfall to Madrid, breaking a 100-year record, the rain in Spain didn’t dampen the palpable excitement of this year’s meeting. This was an especially exciting ESMO because there were a number of important lung cancer presentations that represent practice-changing

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

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 available until December 21. The recordings provide opportunities for attendees to hear from world-renowned

The Latest Lung Cancer Science: Highlights of WCLC 2023

I had the privilege of attending the 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Singapore with my colleague Dr. Bellinda King-Kallimanis. WCLC, the world's largest meeting dedicated to lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, is an excellent forum for learning about the latest research into the early detection and treatment of lung cancer. Apart from the science, it was inspiring to see fellow advocates and network with brilliant researchers, all razor-focused on improving the outcomes and lives of people diagnosed with lung cancer. Major highlights of the meeting are summarized below

What's new in RET-positive lung cancer: Moving beyond tyrosine kinase inhibitors

This recorded Facebook Live presentation features guest speakers Nicolas Le-Bel (caregiver and member of the RETpositive patient group) and Dr. Alex Drilon (Thoracic Oncologist & Early Drug Development Specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). Dr. Drilon is also a recipient of a 2022 Hamoui Foundation/LUNGevity Lung Cancer Research Award for RET-positive lung cancer. Thank you to the Hamoui Foundation for their partnership.

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 Administration (FDA) recently issued a draft guidance outlining recommendations and important

2023 ASCO: Highlights of Lung Cancer Research

Recently, members of LUNGevity Foundation joined thousands of attendees from the US and around the world, including oncologists, scientists, biotech and pharmaceutical representatives, advocates, and patients, to discuss lifesaving cancer research at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago from June 2 through June 6, 2023. The theme for this year’s conference, “Partnering With Patients: The Cornerstone of Cancer Care and Research,” was in recognition of the importance of shared decision-making in cancer research, healthcare delivery, and treatment

Tracing the Clues of a Global Killer: How Dr. Charles Swanton’s Research Is Shedding New Light on Lung Cancer

As Chief Investigator of the groundbreaking Cancer Research UK (CRUK) TRACERx study, you could say that Dr. Charles Swanton is having a moment. Launched nine years ago, TRACERx seeks to understand lung cancer at its most basic level, “tracing” the clues that may predict how it starts and eventually changes over time so that doctors can treat it better. Collecting comprehensive genomic and clinical data from over 800 people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Dr. Swanton and a team of over 250 international researchers are beginning to see their efforts pay off with the recent publication

Tackling the Biggest Challenges in Cancer

Cancer Grand Challenges is a partnership between Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which funds global teams of leading researchers across various scientific disciplines to tackle some of the toughest challenges in cancer research. As Dinah Singer, Acting Director of NCI’s Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives says, “Cancer research is a global endeavor.” As LUNGevity’s Vice President of Global Engagement and Patient Partnerships, I recently attended the Cancer Grand Challenges (CGC) Summit March 8-10, 2023 in London. The CGC Summit featured an action

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 and why it matters to patients. This project is supported by a Hamoui Foundation/LUNGevity Foundation award for