By Amy C. Moore, Ph.D., Director, Science & Research, GO2 for Lung Cancer

2020 started off on a high note – we were celebrating the largest single year drop in cancer mortality. Then COVID-19 showed up and the cancer world was put on high alert. Patients with lung cancer are particularly at risk, with much higher mortality rates from the virus compared to the general public.

GO2 for Lung Cancer has been proactive in bringing our resources to bear in addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on the lung cancer community. It is critical that we, along with our colleagues across the cancer continuum, work to understand the unique convergence of these two deadly diseases.

To that end, our Science & Research team has been engaged in multiple studies throughout the year, including various survey efforts to identify patient and caregiver needs and perceptions related to the virus as well as a newly-funded study to characterize the antibody response to COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer compared to healthy individuals. We explain each of these efforts in more detail below.

Research Surveys

Back in early March, GO2 for Lung Cancer linked arms with our sister lung cancer advocacy groups (LUNGevity Foundation, Lung Cancer Research Foundation, Lung Cancer Foundation of America) to begin issuing joint statements of curated, scientifically-vetted information about COVID-19 for the lung cancer community. As the pandemic raged on through the spring, we conducted a rapid needs assessment survey in early June to understand top patient and caregiver concerns across a number of topics: 1) general information about COVID-19, 2) what if I get COVID-19? and 3) impacts of COVID-19 on lung cancer care. Of the 83 respondents to our survey, 75% had advanced disease (stage III/IV) and 50% were over age 60. Two-thirds of respondents were aware of our joint statements and, of those, 80% found them helpful. Top concerns in each of the three topic areas are highlighted in the figure below:

By understanding patient and caregiver concerns related to the virus, our organizations can work to develop messaging and programming that responds to these needs. Additionally, our survey data on patient and caregiver concerns has been presented at two virtual conferences, the AACR COVID-19 and Cancer meeting held in July and the National Lung Cancer Roundtable (NLCRT) meeting held in December.

GO2 for Lung Cancer is also partnering on a global survey effort as part of the TERAVOLT (Thoracic cancERs international coVid 19 cOLlaboraTion) consortium’s registry. TERAVOLT was created to understand the impact of COVID-19 on patients with thoracic malignancies and is led by an international team of lung cancer experts . This team has reported mortality rates as high as 32% in patients with lung cancer who develop COVID-19. The TERAVOLT-PAPER study was designed to better understand patient perceptions related to the virus. You can click here to participate.

GO2 for Lung Cancer has also added a short COVID-19 survey to patient and caregiver research surveys in the Lung Cancer Registry. This data will be combined with patient-provided medical information to help drive a better understanding of COVID-19’s impacts on the treatment and quality of life of people with lung cancer. For more information about GO2 for Lung Cancer’s own COVID-19 survey efforts, please click here to read Dr. Jacinta Wiens’s article about the Lung Cancer Registry.

Understanding COVID-19 antibody responses in patients with lung cancer

While we know that patients with lung cancer have elevated mortality from COVID-19, we don’t yet know why. To begin to answer that question, GO2 for Lung Cancer is part of a recently-funded, multi-institutional National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to study antibody responses to COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer compared to healthy controls. We want to know if patients with lung cancer mount an effective immune response, including both antibodies and cellular immunity, against the virus. Now that COVID-19 vaccines are on the horizon, the grant will also study immune responses to vaccines in patients with lung cancer compared to healthy controls. GO2 for Lung Cancer will be supporting this effort by helping identify study participants through its nationwide Centers of Excellence network. The study is being led by Drs. Fred Hirsch and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and supported by a team of leading experts in thoracic oncology, virology, immunology and vaccines:

For more information on this important study, click here. Stay tuned for future updates about how you may be able to participate.

GO2 for Lung Cancer remains committed to using all of its available resources to help our community navigate through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There are many research questions that remain and our team will be working with our colleagues across many disciplines to understand the intersection of these two diseases and what it means for patients.

To learn more about all the ways GO2 for Lung Cancer is working to address the needs of the lung cancer community during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, please read our recent “Monthly Measure” article here.