Incredible advances in lung cancer research and treatment give hope to Atlanta lung cancer survivor
Patty Watkins shares details about new treatment options that can help manage cancer as a chronic condition
Patty Watkins can tell you what it's like to face a devastating diagnosis: lung cancer. She was shocked to receive the news in 2014 but has learned to manage the disease as a chronic, long-term condition. Patty now advocates for research funding equal to the problem through her work with the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA).
The good news is that treatment options for lung cancer patients are rapidly improving. LCFA is laser-focused on supporting new research into better ways to diagnose and treat lung cancer patients. Some of the newest developments include:
- Liquid biopsies: a simple blood test being tested to diagnose lung cancer and find biomarkers that could lead to better treatments.
- Immunotherapy: drugs that help a patient’s own immune system fight cancer without damaging healthy cells.
- Targeted therapies: drugs developed for specific biomarkers found in some tumors that slow the cancer's growth.
Unfortunately, lung cancer rates are rising in a surprising population: young women who have never been smokers. They make up 20% of new lung cancer diagnoses, including Patty.
Patty exercised all the time and couldn't understand why she was wheezing at night. A month later, she was diagnosed with blood clots in her calf. Scans to check for other blood clots revealed a shocking diagnosis: Stage 4 lung cancer that had spread to the lining around her heart.
Read more about Patty's story here:
Thankfully, there's new hope in the face of a lung cancer diagnosis. To help recently-diagnosed patients, LCFA is producing a video podcast series called Hope With Answers. The videos pair lung cancer patient advocates with top lung cancer doctors and researchers to chat about topics and questions that people may not think of while they are in the doctor's office.
LCFA also partners with the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer to fund two-year research grants that will hopefully lead to new treatments. The most recent set of grants were awarded to two young women researchers:
- Dr. Haiying Cheng's work focuses on the spread of lung cancer to other parts of body, especially the brain.
- Dr. Kellie Smith will focus on how patients without a history of tobacco exposure will respond to drugs that use the person's own immune system to fight the disease.
Lung Cancer Foundation of America is leading the fight against lung cancer with hope, research, and information for lung cancer patients. Thanks to LCFA's work and others, lung cancer can now- in some cases- be managed as a chronic condition.
Sarah Beatty