Lecia Sequist, MD, MPH, Is Named November LUNGevity Hero to Kick Off Lung Cancer Awareness Month

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To kick off Lung Cancer Awareness Month, LUNGevity Foundation announces Lecia Sequist, MD, MPH, as the November LUNGevity Hero for her extraordinary work in the field of lung cancer, making significant discoveries in genetic mutations and drug resistance.  Dr. Sequist is not only a world-renowned lung cancer oncologist, she also actively researches and teaches.  She has been a member of the LUNGevity Foundation Scientific Advisory Board since 2011, advising the Foundation on key issues within early detection and therapeutics.  The perfect Hero for Lung Cancer Awareness Month, she is known for her advocacy, taking initiative to better the lives of her patients and the greater lung cancer community and speaking out on behalf of those in the lung cancer community who cannot.

Dr. Sequist puts her wealth of lung cancer knowledge and expertise to work in her research lab, overseeing some 15-20 lung cancer clinical trials at any given time.  Her team is responsible for several extraordinary findings in lung cancer genomics, including the discovery that the type of lung cancer that patients display at diagnosis may evolve into another type of lung cancer after treatment. The discovery has informed the process of lung cancer treatment, ensuring that periodic lung cancer biopsies guarantee that best treatment choices are made for the cancer at its present stage and type.  Dr. Sequist is currently conducting research to better understand the development of drug resistance, which tends to occur after one year of patient use.

As a frequent spokesperson on all aspects of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment, she speaks about the importance of mutational testing, which can open up the option of targeted therapies to diagnosed individuals, and the fact that lung cancer can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, and smoking history.  She also speaks on the remarkable progress of the current and constantly evolving research.

In addition to being a research powerhouse, Dr. Sequist is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and she remains an esteemed practicing oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, seeing patients and making a difference for individuals as they battle the disease.  Dr. Sequist joined her patient Rick Brophey as part of his team for a LUNGevity Foundation Breathe Deep Boston 5k walk in 2013.

"I am thrilled to kick off Lung Cancer Awareness Month by naming our Scientific Advisory Board member Dr. Sequist as the November LUNGevity Hero.  Through her studies on changing biomarkers and resistance, she has singlehandedly changed the way we look at lung cancer," said Andrea Ferris, president and chairman of LUNGevity Foundation. "And through her voice, we have witnessed the beginning of an important change in the paradigm of lung cancer."

For more on Dr. Sequist, visit the LUNGevity Heroes Spotlight at http://blog.lungevity.org.

For more information on LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About Lung Cancer

• 1 in 14 Americans is diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
• More than 224,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year
• About 60% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
• Lung cancer kills more people than the next three cancers (colorectal, breast, and pancreatic) combined
• Only 17% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it's caught before it spreads, the chance for 5-year survival improves dramatically

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity Foundation is firmly committed to making an immediate impact on increasing quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments, as well as by providing community, support, and education for all those affected by the disease. Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation

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