THE HEALTH | MARCH-APRIL , 2022

BY HALLIE LEVINE

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the world , in part because it ’ s usually diagnosed at a late stage . Almost 60 per cent of patients diagnosed with lung cancer today have metastatic disease , which means the cancer has already spread from where it started .

But while many companies working in lung cancer research today are focused only on treating late-stage disease , Johnson & Johnson is focused holistically on prevention , interception and treatment .

“ Our goal is to prevent lung cancer from happening in the first place , and if we can ’ t do that , to intercept the disease in its early stages to slow down or prevent further development ,” explains Zach Boyd , Head of Oncology Diagnostics at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson .

To accelerate work toward these goals , in 2018 Johnson & Johnson launched the Lung Cancer Initiative ( LCI ), a cross-sector R & D organisation that takes a multidisciplinary approach to maximise the full power of the company ’ s pharmaceutical , medical devices and consumer health groups , along with the expertise of outside collaborators and leading lung cancer experts in academia to develop innovations to prevent , intercept and treat .

For Lung Cancer Awareness Month in November , Johnson & Johnson took a look at some of the groundbreaking strides the company was making to help advance early detection and screening efforts as part of its overall strategy toward the ultimate goal of a world without lung cancer .

Bringing screening to where the patients are

Regular lung cancer screening , which involves a low-dose CT scan , is the most important step at-risk people can take toward detecting the disease early , when it is easier to treat and potentially cure . But for people to get help , they need to get access to screening .

And that ’ s a real challenge for many .

In September 2021 , Johnson & Johnson collaborated with LUNGevity , a non-profit organisation focusing on lung cancer , and brought together industry colleagues to discuss the current state of access to lung cancer screening in the US . The consensus ?

More work needs to be done , as only five per cent of patients eligible for lung cancer screening ( which is covered by most insurers ) under the current United States Preventive Services Task Force guidelines actually get screened .

For example , West Virginia has one of the highest rates of lung cancer in the US , with only 20 per cent of all cases diagnosed in the early stages , when survival rates are highest . There , only two to four per cent of the approximately 120,000 residents who are eligible undergo lung cancer screenings , in part because there are a very limited number of facilities across the state that provide the tests .

That ’ s why the LCI is collaborating with the West Virginia University ( WVU ) Cancer Institute and WVU Medicine on their launch of the mobile Lung Cancer Screening Unit System ( LUCAS ) last