LUNG CANCER
• Resources
• About Lung Cancer
  • Statement of Need
  • The Need for Research Funding
• LCFA Awards
• Research & Treatments
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The purpose of the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA) is to save lives by improving the survival rate of lung cancer by raising money from the private sector and channeling those funds to lung cancer researchers, so that researchers find effective ways to predict, detect, and treat lung cancer.

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life;
define yourself."

Harvey Fierstein

Research & Treatments

Personalizing the care of your lung cancer: Targeted therapies offering new hope and options!

Researchers are learning more about what makes lung cancer cells grow and spread. Every cell in a body has a set of genes.  In cancer cells, abnormal changes or mutations in these genes are responsible for the cells becoming cancerous and growing out of control. Some of these mutations create new mutant signaling molecules (proteins) in cells. The mutant proteins IN CANCER CELLS are good "targets" for new drugs, because the targeted therapies can attack the cancer cells while sparing normal cells.

We call this "personalized" treatment because every patient's tumor can harbor different mutations. This knowledge is now being used to match the best treatment for each individual patient.

Targeted Therapies Questions and Answers Brochure

Targeted Therapies Questions and Answers Poster

Testing your tumor for genetic mutations

Talk to your doctor about getting your tumor tested to identify its unique genetic mutation.

A national study is taking place that offers advanced lung-cancer patients free screenings of their tumors for genetic mutations, some of which might be targets for treatment with existing or experimental therapies. There are 14 medical sites in the U.S. participating in the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium Protocol, a federally funded study coordinated by researchers at the University of Colorado. Study participants will have their tumors tested at no cost to them and will have access to their results. In addition, medical professionals will guide participants to any current clinical trials of drugs that target specific mutations found in their tumors. Researchers at the 14 consortium sites also will compile a database so that as new therapies are developed, they can contact patients and link them to clinical trials investigating their specific tumor mutations.

Related Links

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; My Cancer Genome
http://www.mycancergenome.org

ALK Inhibitors
http://alkinhibitors.com/

Clinical Trials:

The U.S. National Institutes of Health
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

The National Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/search

Center Watch
http://www.centerwatch.com