LUNGevity Foundation Launches Multi-Year Research Program within Its Small Cell Lung Cancer Initiative

The program's five coordinated projects will map the barriers and unmet needs facing people with small cell lung cancer at the individual, provider, and health-system levels

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Small cell lung cancer, long one of oncology's most aggressive and underserved cancers, is entering a promising new era. At this year's ASCO Annual Meeting, early studies of new antibody-drug conjugates and a DLL3-targeted CAR T-cell therapy pointed to entirely new ways to treat relapsed disease. At the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer in September, two phase 3 trials showed that B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugates helped people with relapsed small cell lung cancer live longer than topotecan, the decades-old standard. This past weekend at the ESMO Congress, highly positive results from the phase 3 DeLLphi-305 trial showed that adding tarlatamab to durvalumab maintenance improved survival in first-line extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, marking the first such advance for a bispecific T-cell engager.

These advances are bringing hope with the potential of new treatment options to the 30,000 to 35,000 Americans diagnosed with small cell lung cancer each year, along with a growing community of survivors. They also bring new demands. Several emerging therapies use novel immune-based mechanisms or targeted drug delivery approaches that require specialized monitoring and management of potential side effects, as well as close coordination between community practices and hospitals. To fully realize the promise of these advances, we must ensure that our healthcare system is equipped to deliver these treatments safely, effectively, and broadly to the patients who need them. We also need to better understand this patient population and their survivorship needs.

To make sure this progress reaches every patient, LUNGevity Foundation, the nation's leading lung cancer organization, today announced a new multi-year research and implementation program within its broader Small Cell Lung Cancer Initiative. The Initiative is LUNGevity's overarching effort to advance research, improve care, and expand education and support for people affected by small cell lung cancer.

Within that umbrella, the new program comprises five coordinated projects designed to identify barriers and unmet needs at the individual patient, provider, and health-system levels and generate insights that can guide the Initiative's future work:

1. Living with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, documenting how patients are living with small cell lung cancer and managing their disease and treatment regimens
2. AMPLIFY: A patient preference study examining which treatment benefits, risks and practical considerations matter most to patients and caregivers, and how those priorities compare with clinicians' perspectives. The findings will help ensure that treatment development, care decisions and patient education better reflect what people living with small cell lung cancer value most.
3. Project Lighthouse, working with community oncology practices so every eligible patient has a reliable pathway to new therapies, locally or through coordinated referral.
4. Patient Activation and Survivorship Programming, turning findings into education, a living clinical trials database and peer support.
5. A small cell lung cancer coalition of key stakeholders to develop best practices that keep pace with new approvals.

"For too long, a small cell lung cancer diagnosis came with very few choices. Today, advances in research and treatment are bringing new options and renewed hope to people living with this disease," said Andrea Ferris, President and CEO of LUNGevity Foundation. "But scientific breakthroughs only matter if they reach the patients who need them. Through this program, LUNGevity's broader Small Cell Lung Cancer Initiative is listening to patients, caregivers and the community oncology teams who care for them so we can remove the barriers standing between science and survival. Thank you to AMGEN for their initial support of this important work and their partnership in creating a strong and vibrant small cell lung cancer community."

People affected by small cell lung cancer can find treatment information, clinical trial resources and a community of fellow survivors at sclc.lungevity.org, or call LUNGevity's Lung Cancer HELPLine at 833-797-5800.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity Foundation is transforming what it means to be diagnosed and live with lung cancer. While many organizations focus on one aspect of lung cancer, LUNGevity works across research, advocacy, and patient support, because lasting progress requires connecting all three. 

As the largest nonprofit funder of lung cancer research in the United States, LUNGevity drives progress in early detection, more effective treatments, and the next generation of researchers. We empower people diagnosed with lung cancer and their caregivers with scientifically vetted information, resources, and community and advocate for policies that improve access to screening, biomarker testing, treatment, and high-quality care for all.

By connecting scientific discovery, patient experience, and advocacy, we help ensure research reflects what patients need, breakthroughs reach the people who can benefit from them, and patient voices help drive meaningful change.

Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer.

Please visit www.LUNGevity.org to learn more. 

About Lung Cancer in the US

• About 1 in 19 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime.
  
  
• More than 229,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, with a new diagnosis every 2.3 minutes.
  
  
• It is estimated that close to 65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people with no tobacco exposure or only past tobacco exposure.
  
  
• More lives are lost to lung cancer than to the next two deadliest cancers (colorectal and pancreatic) combined.
  
  
• Only 29% 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 to 65%.

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation