The RHBE Innovation Award is an opportunity for our partners to apply for funding on a project that meets our mission and supports lung cancer patients. You can look at this year’s application HERE and see previous Innovation Award winners below.
Fox Chase Cancer Center received the 2024 Innovation Award for their work among patients being treated with the recently approved small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) drug tarlatamab-dlle, which is also known by its brand name, Imdelltra. According to Dr. Parth Desai, early data for this drug showed an impressive overall response rate of 40% and median overall survival of 12 months.
While the drug is effective, it has unique side effects, and once the drug is administered, patients require monitoring, presenting potential financial and logistical barriers for underserved populations.
“We’re aiming to cover 24- to 48-hour hotel accommodations near Temple University Hospital’s campus for the patient and caregiver for the first few doses. We are also providing treatment discharge monitoring kits, guidance packets, and transportation assistance when needed,” he added.
Kits would include essential items such as a thermometer, portable pulse
oximeter, snacks, water, sleep mask, electrolyte drinks, and more. The kits
would also include educational information regarding management of potential side-effects and emergency phone numbers for on-call services.
“I am very honored to receive this award and look forward to developing new approaches to address these anticipated barriers to care for small-cell lung cancer patients,” said Desai.
“My colleagues and I are extremely privileged to receive this honor. This award means a lot because it will help us address disparities that we think will develop related to new developments in treatment for small-cell lung cancer”
Lung cancer among individuals who have never smoked is on the rise. Worldwide, nearly 20% of men and more than 50% of women who have been diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked.
Despite the staggering prevalence of this cancer, the risk factors responsible for its development are not well-understood, hindering efforts in prevention and early detection. Moreover, there is an astonishing lack of public awareness of this unique disease.
The Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers Risk Registry (LCNS-RR) will collect critically needed information and biospecimens from patients with lung cancer who have never-smoked. Few registries like this exist in the U.S. Research made possible by this registry will lead to discoveries that support new life-saving practices in prevention, screening, and treatment of lung cancer in never-smokers.
Building this innovative registry will occur, in parallel, with educational forums conducted with registry participants, their caregivers, and other community members. These forums will enhance community awareness of the issues faced by never-smokers with lung cancer and will provide patients and caregivers with new skills to manage the physical and emotional effects of this disease.
Annual lung cancer screening with a low-dose CT scan of the chest saves lives. Unfortunately, people do not participate in annual lung cancer screenings, missing appointments and missing the opportunity to catch cancer in the early stages when treatment is successful.
Adherence to annual lung cancer screening is especially low in populations experiencing health and socioeconomic disparities. Currently, there is no directed effort to facilitate adherence to annual screening.
The overarching goal of our program, called “Screen Time“, is to increase adherence to annual lung cancer screening among Temple University Health System patients. To do this we will
Our work will not only inform our community about barriers to annual lung cancer screening, but establish an evidence-based, replicable infrastructure that facilitates access to the lifesaving technology of lung cancer screening.
Supported by data and with a clear plan for measuring impact, this program is designed to lower barriers and increase education for patients who are screened for lung cancer, but often fail to return for screening.
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