Dear Gentle Reader,

The following focus for our Health Outcomes Communicator is very dear to my heart. And unfortunately the health outcomes from lung cancer are typically not good; anyone who like myself has watched a beloved family member suffer through to the end, will abhor the health outcomes of lung cancer from the core of their being. 

This is not helped by the calm assumption of others that smoking was the cause and was therefore self-inflicted; in our newsletter below Beth addresses the stigma issue and provides solutions. This month we are doing our very best to improve health outcomes in this awful disease, by offering answers and hopefully, communicating clearly.

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Yours truly, 

Ruth

Looking Ahead to November: Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Every November, Lung Cancer Awareness Month serves as a global call to confront one of the world’s deadliest and most stigmatised diseases. Lung cancer accounts for more deaths than breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined, yet it continues to receive disproportionately less research funding and public attention.

Awareness month provides a vital opportunity to shift this narrative. It’s a time to elevate patient voices, highlight advances in screening and treatment, and challenge the enduring stigma that too often isolates those affected.

For publications managers and medical affairs professionals, this awareness month is more than a campaign, it’s a reminder of the power of communication. As research in immunotherapy and precision medicine accelerates, translating complex data into meaningful insights is essential to improving patient outcomes. By bridging scientific progress and clinical practice, we can ensure that innovation reaches those who need it most.

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Why It’s Important for Publications Managers and Medical Affairs Professionals

Few therapeutic areas evolve as quickly or as emotionally as lung cancer. Even as science advances – a promising immunotherapy combination, a novel biomarker, an incremental gain in survival that once felt impossible – progress only matters if it’s understood, believed, and implemented. That’s where publications and medical affairs professionals come in.

When trial outcomes are complex, or real-world evidence is messy, it takes skill to craft a narrative that’s both scientifically rigorous and clinically relevant. Publications managers and medical affairs teams are the connective tissue between innovation and impact, ensuring that breakthroughs in precision medicine actually reach the clinicians and patients who stand to benefit most.

And yet, there’s a shadow that still lingers. Lung cancer carries a stigma. Too often, it’s whispered about, judged before it’s understood. That perception costs lives. Clear, compassionate communication can help change it, by shifting the story from blame to biology, from guilt to progress. This isn’t just about awareness; it’s about advocacy, and the moral responsibility to tell the full story of lung cancer as it is today: treatable, complex, and worthy of the same urgency as any other disease.

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5 Ways to Lead the Lung Cancer Conversation

This November, Lung Cancer Awareness Month gives us a chance to move the conversation beyond awareness, toward understanding, empathy, and action. For those of us working in publications and medical affairs, it’s an opportunity to lead that shift. Here are five ways to do it:

1. Flip the frame.

Move away from the “smoker’s disease” narrative. Focus on biology, not blame. Focus on the science that’s rewriting what we know about lung cancer, and the people it affects.

2. Make data emotional.

Numbers matter, but stories move people. Pair clinical results with patient perspectives or real-world context to remind audiences what those survival curves represent: lives extended, families kept whole.

3. Connect the dots.

Link new evidence to practice. Show how emerging biomarkers, screening tools, or immunotherapies can change patient outcomes today, not just in theory.

4. Speak like a human.

Whether it’s a publication, presentation, or social post, use language that informs without alienating. Complex doesn’t have to mean complicated, and clarity builds credibility.

5. Shine a light, not a spotlight.

Engage in awareness campaigns that patient elevate voices. Partner with advocacy groups, share accurate information, and highlight progress in ways that inspire collective ownership of change.

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Notable News

New hope for hard-to-treat head and neck cancer
A next-generation cancer therapy called amivantamab has shown promising results in patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Presented at ESMO 2025, the trial found that 76% of patients saw their cancer shrink or stop growing after receiving the treatment. Given as an injection, amivantamab blocks two key cancer pathways and helps the immune system attack tumours. Researchers say it could offer a faster, more convenient, and more effective option for patients with few remaining treatments. [Link]

EMA backs first treatment for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis
The European Medicines Agency has recommended approval of Brinsupri (brensocatib) for patients aged 12 and older with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) who experience frequent flare-ups. NCFB is a chronic lung disease with no currently approved treatments. In a trial of 1,767 patients, Brinsupri reduced the annual rate of exacerbations by nearly 20% and delayed the time to first flare-up by 14 weeks. If approved by the European Commission, Brinsupri would become the first authorised medicine for NCFB, offering hope for patients with this debilitating and progressive condition. [Link]

New blood test could transform diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome
Researchers from the University of East Anglia and Oxford Biodynamics have developed a blood test that can diagnose myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) with 96% accuracy. This breakthrough offers the first potential objective test for a condition that affects an estimated 17–24 million people worldwide and has long been difficult to diagnose. Scientists say the discovery could not only speed up diagnosis but also pave the way for more targeted treatments, marking a major step forward for patients who have struggled for years with uncertainty and stigma. [Link]

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References 

American Cancer Society. Key Statistics for Lung Cancer. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/lung-cancer/about/key-statistics.html 

National Cancer Institute. Funding for Research Areas. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/budget/fact-book/data/research-funding