Lung cancer is the deadliest and most common cancer worldwide. It is difficult to detect, and by the time most people are symptomatic, many have already reached stage III or stage IV. Until very recently, the five-year survival rate for patients with advanced-stage lung cancer was in the single digits.

But all that is changing. New targeted drugs—many of which have only been approved by the FDA in the last couple of years—are revolutionizing the way we treat lung cancer and extending the length of time people live with the disease.

With your support, we CAN move lung cancer from the deadly disease it is today to a chronic illness that can be treated and managed.

Not all people diagnosed with lung cancer are smokers.

Yes, people who smoke or have smoked have a higher risk, but many lung cancer patients have never smoked at all. Radon. Asbestos. Air pollution. Genetics. These are just some of the other known causes of lung cancer. Lung cancer also occurs in people with no known risk factors.

Lung cancer strikes people in their 20s and 30s who are lifelong nonsmokers. The assumption that it was a direct result of smoking does nothing to help fight the disease. Lung cancer patients are battling for their lives. Removing the stigma associated with lung cancer is critical to ensuring that research receives adequate funding and that patients receive critical and compassionate support.

Advanced-stage, inoperable lung cancer was once considered a death sentence. Patients with metastatic lung cancer could expect to live, on average, 12 months. But what was once a death sentence is being turned into a “life sentence.” Lung cancer is on its way to becoming more of a chronic disease, like asthma or diabetes. Those diseases can never be cured, but medication can help control them. This is an achievable goal for lung cancer patients.

Scientists have been able to identify genetic alterations at a cellular level that are treatable with targeted drugs and immunotherapy, most of which have been approved by the FDA in just the last few years. Lung cancer patients are now living longer and leading relatively normal lives while on these drugs.

Historically, doctors approached lung cancer patients with a one-size-fits-all treatment with chemotherapy and radiation. Now, they have learned not all lung cancers are the same. Immunotherapy and targeted medications are the future of oncology drugs. Personalized medicine will change the world and lung cancer researchers at UC Health are leading the way.

Links for Lungs is dedicated to raising both awareness of lung cancer and money to support the ALK+ Colorado Cancer Fund and other research organizations.

The ALK+ Colorado Cancer Fund is committed to fighting lung cancer through the following initiatives:

• Basic, clinical, and translational research

• Training the next generation of physicians and scientists

• Patient financial assistance

• Facility and infrastructure improvements

New this year is our partnership with ALK Positive.org, a patient-driven non-profit organization, dedicated to improving the life expectancy and quality of life for ALK-positive patients. ALK Positive is raising funds and sponsors groundbreaking ALK-positive research projects that seek to overcome or prevent the mechanisms of resistance that develop with all ALK-positive lung cancer targeted treatments.