National Lung Cancer Partnership becomes "free to breathe"

After more than a decade as the National Lung Cancer Partnership, the organization rebrands itself as "Free to Breathe," taking the name of its popular nationwide events. The cancer community has seen rebranding of several non-profits over the years, whether it's to stay relevant to its audience or provide a more recognizable face to the public. It hasn't been that long ago that the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation became Susan G. Komen for the Cure, taking the name of its long-standing and popular races. It has since become known simply as Susan G. Komen. In 2011, Gilda's Club and the Wellness Community came together as the Cancer Support Community, although you'll see that iconic red door of Gilda's, and her name, has remained in some communities. I questioned why a lung cancer organization would drop the words "lung cancer" from its name. Did this mean it would focus primarily on fundraising for research as opposed to providing support services for patients? And how would that research funding equate into cures? Thanks to Tracy Fischer at Free to Breathe for answering my questions. What was the impetus for the name change from the National Lung Cancer Partnership to Free to Breathe? Hundreds of thousands of people championing the lung cancer cause have come to know the National Lung Cancer Partnership through our Free to Breathe event series. After extensive research and analysis, we've decided to unite the efforts of our entire organization under the Free to Breathe name. Our research revealed that the name Free to Breathe resonates deeply with people whose lives have been touched by lung cancer. It inspires passion, dedication and hope. It is active, engaging, simple, and more clearly conveys who we are and what we do. Plus, it's easier to remember! To make it clear that our organization is still 100 percent focused on lung cancer, we decided on the tagline "a Partnership for Lung Cancer Survival." This helps people who know us as "The Partnership" recognize our organization, and ensures our purpose and focus are clear to those just getting to know us. How will Free to Breathe achieve the goal of doubling lung cancer survivorship by 2022? Is it by funding research or will Free to Breathe have a hand in directing specific research? While our name has changed, our focus has not. We believe that every lung cancer patient deserves a cure, and we remain passionately committed to our vision of doubling lung cancer survival by 2022. We will continue funding research in addition to helping people living with the disease understand their treatment options and benefit from innovative therapies, with a focus on molecular tumor testing and clinical trials. While funding research is a key component of our program of work, it is not our only strategy. For example, in collaboration with several partners, we have developed a program to measure and reduce the time it takes patient to go from diagnosis to appropriate treatment (freetobreathe.org/research-grants/other-scientific-programs/access-tlc). Free to Breathe also plays a crucial role in the administration of the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium, a partnership of 16 cancer centers across the US working together to test patients' tumors for mutations and characteristics that can be targeted with very specific treatments. This knowledge will help doctors better understand which patients may benefit from which therapies, and help increase clinical trial enrollment which ultimately helps new treatments get to market faster. For example, the LCMC played a key role recently in patient recruitment for a study that led to a "Breakthrough Therapy Designation" from the FDA for a new therapy designed to target BRAF-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. This designation makes it easier for the drug to make its way through the FDA's testing and approval processes and get to patients faster. Is Free to Breathe a research funding organization or lung cancer support organization? Do you work with other lung cancer organizations to promote awareness, advocacy, education and research funding? While we don't offer direct patient support, we do offer many patient resources to help patients understand their treatment options and decide which treatment paths are right for them. Our website provides comprehensive information on the disease, diagnosis and various treatment options (freetobreathe.org/lung-cancer-info/understanding-a-diagnosis). We also offer a clinical trials matching service, as well as advocacy tools to help people recognize symptoms of the disease and raise awareness of its true impact. We empower people to get involved and bring the movement to double survival to their own communities through our nationwide event series and a community fundraising program: freetobreathe.org/get-involved Realizing that collaboration is key to making substantial strides toward doubling survival, we work with other lung cancer organizations in many capacities. For example, this year, we're co-funding our second Impact Award with Uniting Against Lung Cancer. The largest scientific grant offered by both Free to Breathe and UALC, the Impact Award is expected to produce significant improvement for lung cancer patients within the next five years. We are also an active member of LungCAN, a collaborative group of lung cancer advocacy organizations that have come together to raise public awareness about the realities of lung cancer. You can read about other collaborations on our website: freetobreathe.org/about-us/who-we-are/collaborations. You can read the statements from Free to Breathe's website here. You can also find more lung cancer organizations in CURE's Toolbox, which includes resources for those affected by lung cancer.