LUNGevity Foundation Represented at February Lung Cancer Targeted Therapies Meeting

WASHINGTON, DC (February 18, 2014) – Members of LUNGevity Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board and recipients of LUNGevity research awards will be among the scientists leading and participating in sessions at the 14^th Annual IASLC Targeted Therapies Meeting February 19-22 in Santa Monica, California.

Lung cancer is the top cancer killer in the U.S., and LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s largest lung cancer-focused organization, partners with key scientists at the forefront of the research that will improve and prolong lung cancer survivorship. The purpose of this four-day meeting is to discuss progress to date and advances to come in targeted therapies, treatments that work to prevent the growth of cancer cells in individuals with specific molecular mutations.

“LUNGevity Scientific Advisory Board members and awardees continue to be in the vanguard of research progress. Meetings such as these are often catalysts for new and productive collaborations among researchers, and we are hopeful that this meeting will be one that moves lung cancer research forward significantly,” said Andrea Stern Ferris, President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation.

Nine of the 19 members of LUNGevity’s Scientific Advisory Board, which guides the foundation’s research funding strategy, will contribute their expertise to the discussions:

• Philip Bonomi, MD (Rush University Medical Center)  
• Julie Brahmer, MD (The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins)
• Lauren Byers, MD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• David Carbone, MD, PhD (The Ohio State University)
• Steven Dubinett, MD (David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA)
• John Heymach, MD, PhD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center)
• Robert Keith, MD (University of Colorado Denver)
• Scott Lippman, MD (University of California, San Diego)
• Charles Rudin, MD, PhD (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center)
• Lecia Sequist, MD, MPH (Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University)

Ten principal investigators/co-investigators on LUNGevity-funded research projects will likewise participate:

• Jessica Donington, MD, MS (NYU Langone Medical Center)
• Jeffrey Engelman, MD, PhD (Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University)
•  Rebecca Heist, MD, MPH (Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University)
• Karen Kelly, MD (University of California, Davis)
• John Minna, MD (UT Southwestern Medical Center)
• Joel Neal, MD, PhD (Stanford University)
• William Pao, MD, PhD (Vanderbilt University)
• Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD (University of Chicago)
• Ignacio Wistuba, MD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center)

Since 2002, LUNGevity has funded 100 research projects at 56 institutions in 23 states and has connected people to lung cancer survivorship through research, education, and support. Throughout the year, LUNGevity coordinates grassroots and large-scale initiatives with the goal of funding research in order to extend patients’ lives and improve quality of life post-diagnosis. The research is specifically focused on expediting development of an effective early-detection strategy and increasing the availability of therapeutic agents that provide customized genetic intervention for lung cancer.

About Lung Cancer

• 1 in 14 Americans is diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime.
• About 60 percent of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers.
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, regardless of gender or ethnicity.
• Lung cancer kills almost twice as many women as breast cancer and more than three times as many men as prostate cancer.
• Only 16 percent of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, but if it’s caught before it spreads, the chance for 5-year survival improves to 52 percent.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity Foundation is firmly committed to making an immediate impact on increasing quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments, as well as by providing community, support, and education for all those affected by the disease. Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.