David lives in Arlington, VA, with his wife, Lisa, son, Ethan (6), and daughter, Liv (3). He is a passionate supporter of the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Capitals, Baltimore Orioles, and Penn Men’s Lacrosse, of which he was captain in 2007. He and his wife are in the process of formalizing The Sweat for Breath Foundation to improve the lives of those impacted by ALK positive lung cancer, like himself.  My diagnosis  Lung cancer was never on my radar. I’m young; still in my 30s. As a former Division One athlete, I’ve been active all my life and have remained active through sports an ..read more

We are excited to welcome the White Ribbon Project as a 2024 5K walk/run partner. Representatives from the White Ribbon Project will be on-site at our 5Ks to share their important mission and distribute white ribbons to community members who would like to help raise awareness about the disease. We started our partnership at the Dallas 5K on March 30 and welcomed the White Ribbon Project to our 5K in Sacramento on April 6.   The White Ribbon Project is a national nonprofit organization that promotes awareness about lung cancer by changing public perception of the disease. People with a c ..read more

Question: My daughter was just diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 35. Her doctor told us that many young women are now getting lung cancer. Why is this?  (Answered by Dr. Narjust Florez from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute during her appearance at the February 2024 Lung Cancer Living Room. It has been edited slightly for this use.)  Answer: Since 2018, for the first time in history younger women (roughly between the ages of 35 and 54) are getting more lung cancer than younger men, despite the perception that it is a disease that mostly effects men. This phenomenon is not only ..read more

Congratulations to our 2024 Lung Cancer Support Group Facilitator award recipient, Christine Conti, from Huntington Health in Pasadena, California. This award, given annually since 2009, recognizes the uncommon dedication of support group facilitators. Christine Conti, RN, ONN-CG, is a thoracic nurse navigator who has been Huntington Health’s lung cancer support group facilitator for 12 years. During the pandemic, Christine’s group grew when it went virtual, and in response to a growing demand for support during those uncertain times, Christine also increased the frequency of meetings. When ch ..read more

Author: Meg Fay, BSN, RN, Nurse Manager, Excellence in Healthcare Delivery, GO2 for Lung Cancer My name is Meg, and I had the pleasure of experiencing the NYC Marathon 2024 as part of the GO2 Endurance Team. Coach Seth guided our team, offering multiple training programs that we could tailor to our individual needs and training webinars on everything from nutrition to injury prevention and beyond. We could follow along with our programs on the Final Surge app, which was fantastic and easy to use. We also had access to a private Facebook group, connecting us to others training ..read more

GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Voices Summit is the only annual meeting that brings the lung cancer community together for education, training, connection, and advocacy action with our federal government, the largest funder of cancer research.   This month, nearly 200 advocates from 31 states gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 2024 Voices Summit. Attendees learned about the latest in lung cancer treatment and research, received advocacy training, connected with fellow attendees from across the country, and took on Capitol Hill to share their unique stories with their representatives to deman ..read more

Earlier this month, Oakland-based photographer Genevieve joined nearly 200 other lung cancer advocates in Washington, D.C., to share her story with Congressional members and urge support for lung cancer research. We talked to her about her experience as one of 109 first-time participants at the GO2 for Lung Cancer Voices Summit in 2024. How did you become interested in attending the Voices Summit? I hadn’t met any lung cancer survivors until I got involved with GO2. In the beginning, after I received my diagnosis of stage 3 (III) lung cancer, I was so overwhelmed. Only later, after I recove ..read more

Women living with or at risk for lung cancer often have different, and sometimes worse, experiences than men with the same disease. This is due in part to biological differences between men and women and in part to the historical exclusion of women in clinical trials. This has resulted in drugs that were tested predominantly on men and may affect women in different ways.  Women, on average, are also diagnosed with lung cancer at younger ages than men and with shorter smoking histories, calling into question whether the United States Preventative Services Task Force’s (USPSTF) screening g ..read more

Question: I was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and am on my first line of treatment. I keep hearing that at some point I may develop a resistance to that treatment. What exactly does that mean and how long might I have before resistance develops?   (Answered by Dr. Jyoti Malhorta by City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center during her appearance on the Lung Cancer Living Room. It has been edited slightly for this use.)  Answer: When a patient is on a cancer treatment, many times it works for a certain period of time but for advanced lung cancer, we know that the treatment d ..read more

For people diagnosed with lung cancer, receiving a second opinion can be an important step in confirming treatment decisions or opting for a new approach to treatment.   In Mary Burlie’s case, getting a second opinion changed everything. Although her first oncologist did not believe that Mary’s lung cancer had a treatable biomarker, a second opinion from Dr. Jonathon Riess at UC Davis showed that she was eligible for targeted therapy, a pill she now takes just once a day.   “The treatments now are so good and so advanced, that it doesn’t stop you from living. So, I’m livi ..read more