LUNGevity Announces Funding Opportunity for First-Ever Lung Cancer Early Detection and Interception Dream Team

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Building on the Foundation's more than seven years of strategic investment in early detection research, LUNGevity Foundation, in collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and the American Lung Association (through its LUNG FORCE initiative), is pleased to announce that the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), SU2C's scientific partner, has issued a Call for Ideas for research proposals that focus on lung cancer early detection and interception: catching precancerous cells and blocking them from turning into cancer cells. The interdisciplinary and multi-institutional SU2C-LUNGevity-American Lung Association Lung Cancer Interception Dream Team will be the first of its kind, with up to $7 million in funding support.

As Dr. Pierre Massion, Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University, points out, "We understand the pathogenesis of lung cancer a lot better now. People have come to recognize that detecting the disease early and preventing it will require efforts between multiple disciplines to get there. The Lung Cancer Interception Dream Team is a huge step toward this goal." Dr. Massion is a member of LUNGevity's distinguished Scientific Advisory Board and co-chairs the SU2C-LUNGevity-American Lung Association Joint Scientific Advisory Committee (JSAC).

LUNGevity is the only lung cancer nonprofit with a programmatic focus on early detection, to find lung cancer when it is most treatable. Currently, only 15% of people with lung cancer are diagnosed in the earliest stages, resulting in a 5-year survival rate of only 17.7%.  This project expands on LUNGevity's investment in early detection research with the goal of developing an effective, widely available, noninvasive way of finding lung cancer early in all populations.

Prioritized areas of interest for this project include research that accurately categorizes premalignant conditions according to risk of progression and that elucidates the underlying alterations that increase that risk; identification of new targets for developing therapeutic interventions of these early lesions; potential surrogate endpoints for clinical trials and regulatory approval; new tools for early detection and monitoring progression; the role of inflammation and immunosuppression in progression; or research targeted at generating sufficient knowledge to justify a clinical intervention to test novel hypotheses.

Applicants for the grants are expected to show how their proposed projects will have positive benefit for patients in the near future, achieved through investigation by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, synergistic Dream Team of expert investigators. Priority will be given to applications that are characterized by a diversity of team members, including those from fields outside the traditional realms of biomedical research (e.g., physics, mathematics, engineering, health policy, and communications). Specific aims of the project may include basic research, translational studies, and population studies, but the overall proposal must have a strong clinical research component.

Program details can be found at https://proposalcentral.altum.com. Letters of Intent are due by March 8, 2017.

About Lung Cancer in the U.S.

• About 1 in 15 Americans will be 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%-65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
• Lung cancer takes more lives than the next four deadliest cancers (colorectal, pancreatic, breast, and prostate) combined
• Only 18% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it's caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity is the nation's leading lung cancer organization investing in lifesaving, translational research and providing support services and education for patients and caregivers. LUNGevity's goals are three-fold: (1) accelerate research to patients, (2) empower patients to be active participants in their treatment decisions, and (3) remove barriers that patients face in accessing the right treatments.

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.  LUNGevity's comprehensive resources include a medically-vetted website, a toll-free HELPLine in partnership with CancerCare®, a unique Lung Cancer Navigator mobile app, peer-to-peer matching for patients and caregivers (LUNGevity LifeLine), and survivorship conferences (HOPE Summits). LUNGevity also helps patients find and navigate clinical trials through their Clinical Trial Finder tool, a Clinical Trial Ambassador program, and participation with Emerging Med.

Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About the Stand Up To Cancer Initiative

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry's resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about cancer prevention as well as progress being made in the fight against the disease. As SU2C's scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, conduct rigorous, competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and provide expert review of research progress.

Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, Ellen Ziffren, and Kathleen Lobb. Noreen Fraser and the late Laura Ziskin are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, has served as SU2C's president since 2011.

For more information on Stand Up To Cancer, visit www.standup2cancer.org.

About the American Association for Cancer Research

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 37,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in 108 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 25 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with almost 19,500 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual investigator grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and other policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease, through research, education and advocacy. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to improve the air we breathe; to reduce the burden of lung disease on individuals and their families; and to eliminate tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Guide Seal, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit the newly redesigned website: Lung.org.

About LUNG FORCE

LUNG FORCE is a new national movement led by the American Lung Association to unite women against lung cancer, the #1 cancer killer of women. LUNG FORCE has three priorities: 1) Make lung cancer a cause that people care about – and act on; 2) Educate and empower patients and healthcare providers and 3) Raise critical funds for lung cancer research. The American Lung Association's LUNG FORCE is nationally presented by CVS Health. Find out more at LUNGFORCE.org.

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation

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