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Groups join forces to fund MET mutation cancer-specific research

NEW YORK, NY (February 28, 2022) – The Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) and MET Crusaders are pleased to announce a partnership aimed at funding much needed MET cancer research. Together they pledge to fund two projects in 2022 that focus on this specific oncogene.

The MET gene is in chromosome 7 in the cells of the human body. Within the MET gene are the instructions to produce the MET protein, which is broken into segments called Exons. When all the Exons are properly executed in sequence, the normal MET protein is produced.  In the case of cancer driven by MET, there is an alteration in the MET gene causing an error in the production of the MET protein. This production error prevents its degradation or causes excessive tyrosine kinase activity, resulting in cancer cells growing unchecked. There are four major categories of MET protein alterations: mutation, amplification, overexpression, and fusion. MET alterations tend to appear most in adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but they can also be seen in squamous NSCLC. About 5% of lung cancer patients have MET exon 14 skipping. A lower percentage of patients have MET amplification.

MET Crusaders are a community of lung cancer patients, care givers, advocates, researchers, and physicians dedicated to helping patients with the MET alteration live normal lives. “Furthering research to help patients with a MET alteration is a huge task and takes an army of like-minded individuals,” said John Hallick, president of the MET Crusaders. “Partnering with LCRF allows us to leverage their expertise in funding innovative research to fulfill the MET Crusader’s mission of helping people with MET mutations live longer and better lives.”

“We are delighted to partner with MET Crusaders,” said Dennis Chillemi, LCRF Executive Director. “This collaboration will give us a better understanding of this particular mutation, uncovering more treatment options for these patients by accelerating research discovery.”

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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 394 research grants, totaling nearly $39 million, the highest amount provided by a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding lung cancer research. For more information, visit LCRF.org.

About MET Crusaders
MET Crusaders is a patient advocacy group focused on MET driven cancer. The MET Crusaders mission is to help all MET patients, regardless of location, race, or socio-economic class, live a normal life.  This mission is accomplished through community, education, research, and advocacy. MET Crusaders is a trade name of the MET Cancer Foundation, a 501c3 charitable foundation.

Contact:

Lung Cancer Research Foundation
Sheila Sullivan
Senior Director, Marketing & Communications
ssullivan@LCRF.org

MET Crusaders

John Hallick
President
john.hallick@metcrusaders.org

Posted in Announcements, Grants, Partnerships

Isabel Preeshagul, DO, MBS, and Jia Luo, MD, joined us Feb. 16 for an important discussion about Covid-19 and lung cancer: how it affects people with lung cancer, how to keep yourself and your loved ones safe, how to manage symptoms, and considerations for lung cancer treatment.

Both are thoracic oncologists, with Dr. Preeshagul serving at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Dr. Luo at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Watch the recording below.

Learn more about #TogetherSeparately
Posted in #TogetherSeparately, Women & Lung CancerTagged ,

LCRF applauds the commitment of the White House to making cancer a livable condition rather than a death sentence; reducing cancer death by 50% in the next 25 years, as President Biden announced yesterday with the reintroduction of the Cancer Moonshot.

“At LCRF, we’re committed to funding the research that will make this possible for the approximately 500,000 people living with lung cancer in the United States today,” said Dennis Chillemi, LCRF Executive Director. “It has been our mission since our inception and remains our true north to this day.”

Funding for research that leads to treatment breakthroughs is crucial to reaching the goal set by this initiative. Combined with improved detection, better access to affordable care, and community supports, we are encouraged by this renewed commitment to cancer patients, their caregivers, and the community that surrounds them.

Read more about Cancer Moonshot here.

Posted in Announcements
Dr. Arnaud Augert

Dr. Arnaud Augert, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, published a manuscript in 2019 based on his work in small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) – a very aggressive cancer with few therapeutic options. Dr. Augert received a 2014 LCRF research grant.

The authors, including Dr. Augert, assessed the anti-tumor properties of ORY-1001, a lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (LSD1) inhibitor, utilizing human SCLC tumor tissue on mouse models. Transcriptional analyses revealed an activation of NOTCH signaling which led to suppression of Achaete-scute homolog 1 (ASCL1) and SCLC tumorigenesis. Mechanistically, LSD1 was found to bind directly to regions of the NOTCH gene, repressing its expression and downstream signaling. Finally, complete and durable tumor regression occurred with ORY-1001 treatment in a chemoresistant PDX model.

In summary, the study showed that targeting LSD1 resulted in cell-signal disruption, which in turn caused shrinkage of the tumor. Further, this treatment appears to resolve tumors that have become resistant to chemotherapy, a very promising development.

Read the publication here

Posted in Research

Groups join forces to fund KRAS mutation cancer-specific research

NEW YORK, NY (January 31, 2022) – The Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) and KRAS Kickers are excited to announce a partnership aimed at raising much needed funds for research. Together they to pledge to fund at least one two-year grant in 2022 with the goal of improving outcomes for people with KRAS-mutant lung cancer.

KRAS is the most common mutation in non-small cell lung cancer patients, making up about 30% of driver mutations in lung adenocarcinoma. KRAS was considered undruggable until last year’s FDA approval of sotorasib, which targets KRAS G12C, a small subset of KRAS-mutant cancer. Even with the approval of sotorasib, the bulk of patients with the KRAS mutation do not have a first-line drug therapy, underscoring the need for additional research for more treatment options to bring hope to this large subgroup of lung cancer patients. LCRF is proud to have funded nearly $1.3 million in KRAS-specific lung cancer research to date. 

KRAS Kickers is a non-profit patient founded organization with a mission to connect people to current research, resources, and community to kick cancer’s KRAS. KRAS Kickers empowers patients, brings doctors and researchers with cutting-edge information together in an approachable virtual patient community.

“Having KRAS brings us together as KRAS Kickers,” says KRAS Kickers founder Terri Conneran, who was diagnosed with KRAS lung cancer in 2017. “This is one of the alliances for KRAS Knowledge, Research, Advocacy for Survivorship. We choose to work together, for better KRAS lung cancer treatments.”

“We are thrilled to work with KRAS Kickers,” said Dennis Chillemi, LCRF Executive Director. “Partnering with this extraordinary group will no doubt allow us to better understand this particular mutation and uncover more treatment options for these patients. We are confident that this partnership will accelerate research discovery in this area.” 

Donate towards KRAS-specific research

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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 383 research grants, totaling nearly $36 million, the highest amount provided by a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding lung cancer research. For more information, visit lcrf.org. 

About KRAS Kickers 
KRAS Kickers is a non-profit for people impacted by any KRAS oncogene cancer, including patients, survivors and all who care. Empowering people with KRAS Knowledge, Research, Advocating and Survivorship. KRAS is the cancer mutation in one third of all cancers.  Including the three deadliest, lung, colorectal and pancreatic. The KRAS Kickers are a community for all people that want to better understand and find best treatments.

Posted in Announcements, PartnershipsTagged

The American Cancer Society just released its annual Cancer Facts and Figures, and it included good news about lung cancer. More lung cancer is being detected early, and that’s contributing to the increasing survival rates for patients.

Overall cancer mortality rates have dropped steadily for nearly two decades, and a big part of that success is the progress in early detection and treatment options for lung cancer. Lung cancer deaths are declining faster than the overall trend. Cancer mortality in general dropped about 2% each year between 2015 and 2019, while lung cancer mortality dropped 5%.

Read more and download the report

Posted in Grants

Six dedicated supporters will be running the United Airlines NYC Half on March 20 and fundraising for lung cancer research. Below, meet the marathoners running the NYC Half on Team LCRF!

Support a runner with a donation

Meet the runners

Lauren works as a sales executive for VDX.tv. She shares that her proudest running accomplishment was when she ran the Chicago half marathon over 10 years ago – it was the farthest she had ever run.

“I am not a runner, but my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer in October of 2021. Feeling helpless and not sure where to channel my anger and fear, I thought that training for something that will raise money and awareness was a good start. She is the toughest person I know, so I can do my best and run 13.1 miles in honor of her.”

Isabella is an attorney, and her favorite running song is Stronger by Brittany Spears.

“I’m running in honor of my uncle, Christos Koutsis, who battled lung cancer for four years. After he passed, I became devoted to helping find a cure. I’m thrilled to be a part of Team LCRF because LCRF’s mission is to improve lung cancer outcomes by funding research for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of lung cancer.”

Julien is an analytical chemist, and Daphne is a Federal agent. Daphne’s proudest running accomplishment was in 2019, when she ran Marine Corps Marathon and the NYC Marathon a week apart.

“Our mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2021 and died three months later. This is for you, Maman.”

Julia, a 7th grade teacher, finished her first half marathon in 2020 with a time under two hours.

“I am running in memory of my Nana, Mary Carol Seaver. We lost her in 2015 to a genetic form of lung cancer. I am invested in honoring her legacy while supporting the lung cancer community in order to further research and provide hope!”

Sara is a program manager for CUNY and says that she loves to run to any playlist “with terrible pop hits from the 80s, 90s, and 00s.”

“I am running in honor of my mom, Bernice, who died in 2008 of non-small cell lung cancer. She was an immunologist and so supporting research and finding treatments for lung cancer feel like a great way to honor her. She was not a runner and thought my running was a weird hobby!”

Posted in Endurance Events

A new article, “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Lung Cancer Clinical Trials: Why it matters to people with Lung Cancer,” has been accepted and published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology Clinical and Research Reports. The piece follows a global study commissioned by International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer; adding the patient advocate voices of the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, LUNGevity Foundation, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Lung Cancer Foundation of America, Lung Cancer Europe, and GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer.

Only 2-8% of people with cancer participate in clinical trials, an issue which has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the publication, the authors make recommendations for actions that stakeholders – regulatory agencies, non-pharmaceutical funders, and clinical trial investigators and sponsors – can implement long-term to increase access and remove barriers.

Representing LCRF as co-author is Eugene Manley, Jr., PhD, Director, Scientific Programs. Other co-authors are Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, LUNGevity; Anne-Marie-Baird, PhD, Lung Cancer Europe; Andrew Ciupek, PhD, GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer; Jesme Fox, MBChB, MBA, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation); Kim Norris, Lung Cancer Foundation of America; Giorgio V. Scagliotti, MD, PhD; Heather A. Wakelee, MD; Tetsuya Mitsudomi, MD; Russell C. Clark, JD; Renee Arndt, MS; Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD; Paul A. Bunn, MD; and Matthew P. Smeltzer, PhD.

Download and read the article (PDF)

Posted in In the News, Partnerships

AbbVie’s telisotuzumab vedotin (Teliso-V) was recently granted FDA Breakthrough Designation for use in patients with advanced or metastatic EGFR wild-type non-squamous NSCLC whose cancer has advanced or progressed after being treated with platinum-based therapy. The designation is based on the Phase 2 LUMINOSITY Trial (Study M14-239). Teliso-V is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting c-MET that is linked to monomethyl auriastatin E (MMAE) as a monotherapy in the second- or third-line setting. Currently, no therapies specifically target c-MET overexpressing NSCLC. 

The treatment is being administered in two additional studies. In the Phase 1 Study (MN14-237), Teliso-V is being administered with osimertinib to patients with NSCLC with c-MET overexpression that have been previously treated. In the Phase 3 TeliMet NSCLC001 (Study M18-868) Trial, the drug is used as a monotherapy in NSCLC patients with c-MET overexpression that have been previously treated.  Some of the data from these studies is expected to be presented at conferences this year.

Read more

Posted in FDA News