Treatment Advancements in Lung Cancer Lead to ‘Tremendous Growth’

Recent advancements surrounding the development of biomarker- targeted therapies have revolutionized the treatment of lung cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society’s 2022 report on cancer statistics, the percentage of patients living at least three years after diagnosis rose from 19% in 2001 to 31% in 2015 through 2017.

In this special issue, and to reflect on CURE®’s 20th anniversary, we highlight the science that ultimately led to these advancements. We speak with several patients whose lives have been altered by the development of targeted therapies.

“There has been a tremendous growth in this area,” says one expert from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “Instead of taking an all-comers approach for a given drug, we (can now) say this drug is going to work for patient A, but not patient B because of some biomarker of response to the therapy. This is the heralding of precision medicine or personalized medicine in lung cancer.”

But we also acknowledge that more work needs to be done to ensure that patients continue to live instead of just being alive, as one patient so eloquently put it.

CURE® also speaks with Sarah Miretti Cassidy, of Cancer Hope Network, about the support that is available to patients and their loved ones during the difficult time of an end-stage cancer diagnosis.

As always, we hope you find our stories inspirational and informative. Thank you for reading.

Mike Hennessy Jr.

President & CEO

MJH Life Sciences®

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.

Tell us about someone making a significant positive impact in the lives of patients with lung cancer.Nominations for the 2022 Lung Cancer Heroes is open now through May 15! To submit, click here.