Emily Bennett Taylor, Stage IV lung cancer survivor, with family

There is a growing cohort of younger adults who are being diagnosed with lung cancer. Alarmingly, the research points to an increase not only in diagnosis at a young age—but particularly in women.

Upstage Lung Cancer is proud to support research into lung cancer in young adults with the Breathe Free virtual concert on May 20 at 8:00 pm ET. Join young artists sharing their musical talents to benefit lung cancer awareness and research.

How did this research effort start? Jill Costello, a college student at the University of California at Berkeley was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in 2009 at age 20. Jill was a healthy and fit coxswain of the women’s crew team, with no family history of the disease. Tragically, she died a year later, but not before inspiring Bonnie Addario, co-founder of both the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI) and GO2 for Lung Cancer (GO2 for Lung Cancer), to begin looking into why.

Several years later, ALCMI launched the Genomics of Young Lung Cancer study (2014-2017) to see if patients diagnosed under the age of 40 had an increased rate of DNA mutations associated with their cancer. The study revealed that nearly 84 percent of patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma at an early age harbored actionable genetic mutations, making them potential candidates for targeted treatment. These treatments were unavailable at the time of Jill Costello’s diagnosis.

A new follow-up study launched in 2021. Epidemiology of Young Lung Cancer (EoYLC), a collaboration between ALCMI and GO2 for Lung Cancer, seeks to pinpoint risk factors that may lead to a lung cancer diagnosis in young people. The study looks at environmental and childhood exposures and other potential risk factors that researchers hope will crack the code on lung cancer in those diagnosed under age 40.

“We’re in a race to figure out this disease so that the next generation doesn’t get it,” says Emily Bennett Taylor, a Stage IV lung cancer survivor diagnosed at age 28.

Upstage Lung Cancer is proud to have supported the initial study into young lung cancer, and to continue its support of the EoYLC study. The concert is free, but donations are encouraged. Proceeds from the Breathe Free concert will support the Epidemiology of Young Lung Cancer study. Register for the concert today!