Lung cancer and melanoma funders form first-ever research collaboration

LUNGevity FoundationJul 9 2014

LUNGevity Foundation today announced a partnership with the Lung Cancer Research Foundation and Melanoma Research Alliance to co-fund new innovative research on PD-1 inhibitor treatment options for both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and metastatic melanoma (MM) patients with brain metastases. The award recipient is Lucia Jilaveanu, M.D., Ph.D., Yale University, for her project Response to PD-1 Inhibitors in Melanoma and Lung Cancer Patients with Brain Metastases.

Though responses to new systematic immune therapies have been encouraging, patients with brain metastases have typically been excluded from clinical trials, leaving them with limited therapeutic options. Of those diagnosed with NSCLC and MM, approximately 50,000 patients every year develop brain metastases.

This first-ever research collaboration between lung cancer and melanoma funders reflects the shared urgency on this issue. Individuals with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have the highest incidence of brain metastases among all cancers, and melanoma has the highest likelihood to metastasize to the brain once the disease has spread.

"LUNGevity Foundation is thrilled to collaborate with Melanoma Research Alliance and the Lung Cancer Research Foundation to tackle a serious concern that affects both of our communities," said LUNGevity Foundation President Andrea Stern Ferris. "Immunotherapy is one of the most promising new fields of medical science. To expand this advancement to lung cancer patients with brain metastases could open a whole world of treatment to 50,000 people every year who have not yet been able to access this vital therapy."