Conquering Lung Cancer

The Community's Conversation

An Optimal Health Series Forum

It’s the leading cause of cancer death in the United States – and it’s treatable: lung cancer kills some 127,000 people annually in the U.S., but it’s not a hopeless disease, and in fact, can often be treated if detected early.

While treatments continue to improve with breakthrough “targeted” therapies, it’s early detection that could prevent enormous numbers of lung cancer deaths. But screening rates for lung cancers remain significantly lower than for other cancers, and according to a new Stanford Medicine study, they’re disproportionally failing minority populations, including African Americans.

What’s the key to beating lung cancer in the U.S. and around the world? What are the racial disparities in lung cancer detection and treatment, and how can these disparities be addressed?

For Lung Cancer Awareness and National Smoking Cessation Month, we welcome two Ohio-based global leaders in lung cancer research to unpack the causes, examine groundbreaking detection strategies for – and new targeted treatments of – America’s number one cancer killer. Featuring David P. Carbone, MD, PhD, Barbara J. Bonner Chair in Lung Cancer Research, Director, James Thoracic Center, and Co-Leader, Translational Therapeutics Program, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center; Jasleen Pannu, MMBS, Director of Interventional Pulmonary Translational Research at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; with moderator Cierra Johnson, Anchor and Reporter, WCMH NBC4. CMC's Optimal Health Series is presented by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital. This forum was sponsored by AstraZeneca, CareSource, and Cardinal Health.

The forum livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

It was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on November 15, 2023.