News

This year’s Pittsburgh Chinese Golf Association (PCGA) Annual Tournament was dedicated to PCGA’s founder and president, Dr. Baocheng Zhang, who passed away in May from lung cancer. The event was held October 13 at Quicksilver Golf Club in Midway, PA, and raised $10,650 for lung cancer research.

After golf, the 44 participants gathered for an awards ceremony which included a special dedication to Dr. Zhang. Special thanks to Eddie Zhang, Dr. Baocheng Zhang’s son, for planning this event in memory of his father.

Business sponsors included: Westinghouse Electric Company, Shanghai Tokyo / Zen Restaurant and Sushi Bar (Joe Zhou), Beyond Education International (Mike Lin), Pho Van Pittsburgh (Steve Weng), Smart Financial Group (DJ Ng), General Mortgage Capital Corporation (Amanda Liu). Generous personal donations came from Eddie Zhang, Ben Zhao, Adam Yuan, Yun Long, Ziqing Zhang, Yimin Lu, and Eugene Zhang.

Free to Breathe Walk weekend gave survivors, caregivers, friends, family, medical staff, and other supporters an opportunity to join forces to fund lung cancer research.

Walk events took place in Chicago and Kansas City, and others were invited to join the Free to Breathe Anywhere Walk in their own neighborhoods. Walkers and their teams will continue to fundraise through the end of the year.

In Kansas City, 120 participants raised $20,000 and enjoyed an uplifting day of community which included a 3-mile walk route. Special thanks to committee members Stephanie Brunkhorst, Steve Shelton, and Shana Abdullah for their efforts to bring the event to life. Steve shared his own lung cancer story during the opening ceremony.

Chicago‘s walk brought 550 participants together who raised over $140,000 for research. The morning featured family friendly activities such as face painting and tae kwon do, as well as a 2-mile walk route. LCRF board member Tejal Patel was the emcee for the opening ceremony, and Michelle Cihla shared her story as a survivor.

Learn more about the Free to Breathe program at LCRF.org/walk.

Anywhere Walk teams participated from places as varied as California, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Washington, DC – with more walking in the coming weeks. Watch the Free to Breathe Anywhere Walk opening ceremony here:

2024 Anywhere Walk Opening Ceremony

Below are a few photos from each event. Please send your own photos to events@LCRF.org! View full photo albums here:

Chicago photos

Kansas City photos

Anywhere Walk photos

The good news

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved amivantamab-vmjw for two new indications for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with common epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions and exon 21 L858R substitution mutations.

Why it’s important

Amivantamab is a bispecific antibody which means that it has two different targets, EGFR and MET. It has already been approved in the treatment of NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations

The first new approval is for the initial treatment of advanced NSCLC with common EGFR mutations. This was based on the results of the MARIPOSA trial. In this study, over 1,000 patients were treated with lazertinib with or without amivantamab or osimertinib. The outcome of the trial indicated that the length of time the cancer was controlled [progression-free survival (PFS)] was 23.7 months for the lazertinib and amivantamab group and 16.6 months for patients treated with osimertinib alone. It was too early to determine whether the patients who received lazertinib and amivantamab lived longer.

The second approval came from the MARIPOSA-2 study. Patients with advanced NSCLC with common EGFR mutations whose disease progressed after osimertinib received chemotherapy with or without amivantamab or amivantamab alone. The PFS was 6.3 months for patients who received the chemotherapy plus amivantamab compared to 4.2 months for the patients who received chemotherapy alone. There was no significant improvement in the survival of the patients who received both drugs, but the results are still early, and an additional analysis will be needed.

What it means for patients

Many advances have been made with the treatment of patients with EGFR mutant NSCLC. The fact that amivantamab has been FDA approved for initial treatment and after disease progression is a clear indication that progress is being made. This is very important because patients with advanced disease are usually not cured with current therapy. The use of amivantamab represents another available treatment option. It should be noted that using two treatments instead of one does come with more side effects, but these were managed on both MARIPOSA trials. It is important to discuss these new treatments along with their benefits and side effects with your oncologist.

What to look for

There are trials that are trying to minimize the side effects of amivantamab to make treatment easier. For instance, work is being done to allow the drug to be given via a needle under the skin rather than through the vein. This reduces the infusion reactions and lessens the time needed to deliver the drug. Even more important research is continuing in this field with the development of new agents, and efforts are underway to understand the reasons these cancers become resistant to treatment. The ultimate intention of these efforts is to find a cure for patients with NSCLC and EGFR mutations.

The Lung Cancer Research Foundation’s annual Evening of Innovation gala celebrated scientific discovery and the remarkable people who have contributed to the progress being made in the lung cancer space. The event raised more than $650,000 for lung cancer research that will continue lifesaving breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment.

This year’s gala, held at The Metropolitan Club in Manhattan on Sept. 24, honored Mark G. Kris, MD, thoracic oncologist and the William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Kris was a vital member of LCRF’s Scientific Advisory Board for over 10 years and played an essential role in building its research program. His guidance to the founding members of LCRF shaped its strategic trajectory, and his leadership and direction empower LCRF to fund the brightest minds and make the biggest impact for patients.

*Dr. Kris with Mary Ann Tighe & Dr. David Hidalgo*

From the speech given by Dr. David Hidalgo outlining the highlights of Dr. Kris’s extraordinary career; to the testimonials given by patient Tejal Patel and others whose lives he touched; to the special guest appearance of Debby Boone; to the applause of the room; and the sheer number of family, friends, colleagues, mentors and mentees in attendance; it was a truly meaningful evening.

Dr. Kris, in his acceptance speech, acknowledged everyone that helped shape his career as a clinician and a scientist, and shared his vision of the future of lung cancer research. He began and ended by encouraging everyone in the room to work toward a cure for lung cancer. “When you lay your head down on the pillow tonight, dream about a cure. Because if you can dream of it, a cure can happen.”

Watch a short video about Dr. Kris.
Read a testimonial from a patient.
Read the press release here.
View the full photo gallery here.

A few words about Dr. Kris

“Life can turn on a dime.” It’s a phrase we all know. Yet at age 62, I never thought that saying would apply to me.

But it did. My life was forever changed on a cold morning in January 2017 at my first appointment with Dr. Mark Kris.

Dr. Kris told me I had Stage Four lung cancer and that I was a very sick woman. He urged me to get my financial affairs in order and that I qualified as “disabled” in medical parlance.

My focus instantly shifted to receiving the best medical care possible to extend my life. And thus began my continuing journey with Dr Kris, one that has had its ups and downs, but that makes me hopeful it will last many more years.

Early on, Dr. Kris recommended I participate in a drug trial protocol that combined Avastin and Tagrrisso, two different cancer drugs. Today, I remain on Tagrisso.

Because the tumors had shrunk substantially I was then able to have surgeries at the one-year and 4-1/2-year marks to remove cancerous tissue from my right lung. But today, I am “no evidence of disease,” I feel great, and I walk more than five miles daily.

I attended my son’s wedding in 2022, I continue to work, and I enjoy a full and rich life. For all of this, I have Dr. Kris to thank.

For the last seven years, I have depended on his medical prowess, as well as his empathy and attention. I think of him as my savior and real-life guardian angel.

Dr. Kris saved my life, against all odds. I remain on his prescribed therapy regimen, and he continues to oversee the treatment of my disease. I give thanks to Dr. Kris with every breath I take.

I am so grateful to you, Dr. Kris. A heartfelt thanks to you for saving my life and those of so many others. Your extraordinary reputation is widespread.

When others ask me who my physician is and I tell them it’s Dr. Kris, the responses are unanimous. “He’s the best,” they tell me. And that is absolutely true.

– Anonymous

Drs. Lyudmila Bazhenova, Jyoti Patel, and Isabel Preeshagul discussed the news from this year’s World Conference on Lung Cancer – the world’s largest meeting dedicated to lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies.

Watch the recording below.

September 2024

The area around Park City, UT, is known for its natural beauty, world-class ski slopes and trails. Like many of those who make Park City their home, Bill often enjoyed trail running, mountain biking, and back country skiing. “I’d wake up at 5 in the morning. I’d go to the gym, I’d eat well. I was doing everything right,” he said.

So he took it in stride when he pulled his back shoveling snow a year and a half ago. “When you get to your 40s, that stuff happens.” But the pain lasted longer than he expected, and he was told he had a mild scoliosis. After nearly three months of twice-weekly physical therapy with no improvement, Bill scheduled an MRI. But a few days before his appointment he seized up to the point he couldn’t walk – and ended up in the emergency room.

That’s when he found out he had lung cancer. “It had spread all the way up my spine and into my brain and down my hips. It was wildly metastatic.”

In this short clip, Bill talks about the moment he learned his diagnosis

He was taken by ambulance to a major hospital. “My spine had essentially crumbled from the cancer itself,” he explained. He had a kyphoplasty, where bone cement is injected into the spine, but in post-op, it exploded.

In the meantime, his wife, Sloan, was doing her own research. She called on an oncologist friend who recommended biomarker testing, and soon Bill was at Huntsman Cancer Institute. He had radiation and a spinal fusion; the biomarker results showed his cancer had the EGFR exon 21 mutation. “That’s when there was actual hope,” he said. After starting targeted therapy, “within a month it was amazing. Like, my whole life had changed completely,” he said.

“I thought I was done for. The osimertinib really changed everything.”

> Learn more about biomarker testing

Bill also wants to draw attention to some of the risk factors that fly under the radar. “My big thing is radon,” he said. “I’m trying to bring about more radon awareness, especially out here in the intermountain region, and I’m on the Utah Radon Board.”

He also is sharing information with a biotech company, which is tracking his data points as he goes through treatment.

Bill’s journey hasn’t been free of complications, however. Gallstones were a separate issue that required several surgeries to remove them and, ultimately, his gallbladder. Subsequent testing showed that while his brain and spine metastases were shrinking, his lung mass was growing quickly.

Bill is now in a clinical trial and feeling positive about his progress. “You know, 10 years ago my wife’s father had prostate cancer – stage 4, like my diagnosis. That was a death sentence, right? But now, it’s totally different. These clinical trials are helping prolong my life and other people’s lives so much.”

> Learn more about clinical trials
> Find a clinical trial for your diagnosis

Groups develop Request for Proposals for research grants focused on lung cancers harboring HER2 mutations and/or other HER2 alterations

NEW YORK, NY (September 5, 2024) – The Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) is pleased to announce its collaboration with Bayer Pharmaceuticals to fund two research grants focused on innovative strategies to advance understanding and management of lung cancers harboring HER2 mutations and/or other HER2 alterations.

This collaboration seeks to address important mechanistic questions and developmental therapeutics across the care continuum for HER2-mutant NSCLC, and has the potential to improve patient outcomes.

“LCRF is delighted to collaborate with Bayer to identify and support outstanding lung cancer research projects that will help develop treatments for this specific set of lung cancers,” says Kathryn O’Donnell, PhD, LCRF Scientific Advisory Board chair. “Expanding the treatment options available to patients affected by HER2 mutations or alterations is an important and exciting area in lung cancer research.”

“We are delighted to encourage and support groundbreaking research via this new LCRF initiative. This collaboration underscores our ongoing commitment to patients living with lung cancer, and our unwavering drive to advance precision oncology in disease areas with the highest unmet needs,” said Abdelali Majdi, MD, Head of Global Medical Affairs Precision Oncology & Pipeline at Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division.

Lung cancer is responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other cancer, accounting for an estimated 130,180 deaths annually in the United States alone.[1] Globally, there are approximately 1.8 million new cases of lung cancer every year and over 1.6 million deaths. [2] The last 10 to 15 years have seen accelerated clinical trials and regulatory approvals of targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in part due to advances in molecular profiling of tumors.

Many of these targeted therapies are directed against oncogenic drivers. The HER family of tyrosine kinases include HER1 (epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR] or ERBB1), HER2 (HER2/neu or ERBB2), HER3, and HER4. EGFR mutations were one of the first oncogenic drivers that were successfully targeted with the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Despite substantial progress in this area, available treatments are generally not curative, and resistance invariably develops. Twenty years ago, HER2 mutations were also identified as potential oncogenic drivers in lung cancer. Activating mutations of HER2 (mostly exon 20 insertions, such as HER2 YVMA) occur in up to 4% of NSCLC. Until recently, developing effective HER2-targeted therapies for lung cancer has been a challenge.

Immunotherapeutic strategies have not been successful in the treatment of lung cancers with genomic alterations such as HER2 mutations. It is of vital importance that there is a better understanding of the mechanism of tumor response and resistance. Moreover, given that therapeutic options available to date are not curative, there is a need for novel approaches to treat HER2-mutant lung cancers.

The LCRF | Bayer Lung Cancer Research Award will focus on the science behind HER2 alterations as oncogenic drivers of malignancy and/or the development of novel therapeutic approaches for patients with tumors harboring HER2 mutations and/or other HER2 alterations. To be notified when the Request for Proposals is open for submissions, go to LCRF.org/HER2-RFP.

To learn more about LCRF and its grants program, visit LCRF.org.

###

About the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF)
The Lung Cancer Research Foundation® (LCRF) is the leading nonprofit organization focused on funding innovative, high-reward research with the potential to extend survival and improve quality of life for people with lung cancer. LCRF’s mission is to improve lung cancer outcomes by funding research for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of lung cancer. To date, LCRF has funded 419 research grants, totaling nearly $44 million, the highest amount provided by a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding lung cancer research. For more information, visit LCRF.org.

Contact:
Sheila Sullivan
Sr. Director, Marketing & Communications, LCRF
ssullivan@lcrf.org

[1] American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2022. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2022

[2] Babar L, Modi P, Anjum F. Lung Cancer Screening. [Updated 2023 Jul 24]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537283/ Accessed: June 2024.