LUNGevity and Rising Tide Foundation Partner to Issue RFA for $1.5M to Improve Outcomes for People Living with Lung Cancer

Research aims to improve our ability to overcome shared mechanisms of drug resistance in lung adenocarcinoma

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation is honored to announce its partnership with the Rising Tide Foundation to issue an RFA (Request for Application) for the Rising Tide/LUNGevity Team Award to Target Mechanisms of Resistance.

Approximately 45%-50% of lung adenocarcinomas are known to harbor oncogenic drivers that have been successfully targeted by treatments. While many patients benefit from these targeted therapies, the tumors will eventually develop drug resistance and begin to grow again. 

As the lung cancer community seeks to understand and overcome drug resistance, researchers have found that tumors with different types of oncogenic drivers can often develop resistance using the same pathways.

"Understanding these shared mechanisms of drug resistance is a major need in the lung cancer community," said Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, executive director of LUNGevity Research. "Through this partnership with Rising Tide, we are supporting people living with lung cancer around the world by funding high-impact interventional clinical trials that seek to develop therapeutic strategies targeting shared mechanisms of resistance in oncogene-driven lung adenocarcinoma."

"As we work to address questions that are top of mind for the lung cancer patient community, Rising Tide and LUNGevity agree that what we do is as important as how we do it," said Dr. Alexandre Costa Alencar, Head of Cancer Research Programs of Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research. "That is why we have placed an emphasis on funding projects, such as clinical trials, that will have a direct impact on the lives of patients. And we have emphasized the importance of including patients in the earliest stages, beginning with the design of the study." 

Projects selected for the Rising Tide/LUNGevity Team Award for Resistance will receive a maximum of $1,500,000 over three years ($500,000 per year). 

Successful proposals are expected to be interventional clinical trials or research associated with clinical trials aimed at addressing the problem of shared mechanisms of resistance across oncogene-driven lung adenocarcinoma by targeting them using novel pharmaceutical agents, as either monotherapies or combination therapies.

Letters of intent must be submitted by February 9, 2024. 

For additional information about this RFA, please visit Applying for a LUNGevity Award | LUNGevity Foundation.

About the Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research

Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research is a charitable, nonprofit organization established in 2010 and located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. RTFCCR's primary consideration in granting support is given to innovative, patient-centered clinical research. The long-term ambition of the foundation is to bring the maximum benefit in the shortest time possible to cancer patients. The foundation works toward this objective by fostering partnerships and striving to attract and support the best in Phase I to Phase III clinical trials. The foundation efforts are focused on the creation of less toxic therapeutic approaches, better disease burden management, earlier cancer detection, and innovative intervention strategies that will lead to increased quality of life and survival for patients.

For more information about Rising Tide, please visit Clinical Cancer Research – Rising Tide Foundation.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity, the nation's leading lung cancer organization, is transforming what it means to be diagnosed and live with lung cancer. LUNGevity seeks to make an immediate impact on quality of life and survivorship for everyone touched by the disease—while promoting health equity by addressing disparities throughout the care continuum.

• Through research, we use an innovative and holistic approach to finding lung cancer earlier when it is most treatable; advance research into new treatments so people may live longer and better; and ensure a diverse, vital pipeline of investigators for the future of the lung cancer field.
• Through advocacy, we foster groundbreaking collaborations to ensure all people have access to screening, biomarker testing, and treatment breakthroughs.
• Through community, we educate, support, and connect people affected by lung cancer so that they can get the best healthcare and live longer and better lives.

Comprehensive resources include a medically vetted and patient-centric website, Patient Gateways for specific types of lung cancer, a toll-free HELPLine for personalized support, international survivor conferences, and tools to find a clinical trial. All these programs are designed to help us achieve our vision—a world where no one dies of lung cancer. LUNGevity Foundation is proud to be a four-star Charity Navigator organization.

Please visit www.LUNGevity.org to learn more. 

About Lung Cancer in the US

• About 1 in 16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime.
• More than 238,000 people in the US 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 causes more deaths than the next two deadliest cancers (colorectal and pancreatic) combined.
• Only 25% 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.

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation