The cause of lung cancer in never-smokers is poorly understood, but a study led by investigators at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and at the National Cancer Institute has identified a molecule believed to play an early and important role in its development.

Younger women who have medically induced menopause may double their risk of lung cancer, especially if they have their ovaries removed, according to a study by Canadian researchers. The early and sudden loss of estrogen or the potential long-term use of HRT could cause the increased risk, but additional research is needed, a study co-author said.

In patients with stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer, lung resection, preferably by lobectomy, should be considered in addition to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, according to a study published online July 27 in The Lancet.

On August 2nd the Bonnie J Addario Lung Cancer Foundation is sponsoring a 5k walk/run in the Golden Gate Park of San Francisco. The first of its kind for lung cancer in San Francisco, the Addario Foundation will be chalking up another success towards raising awareness and funds for what the American Cancer Society tells us is the deadliest of all cancers.

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) announced that the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) is allotting approximately $1.2 million of the $20 million lung cancer research appropriation established last year to fund “Concept Award” applications.

An EU review panel dealt a body blow to Merck KGaA’s ambitions to extend the range of patients for its most promising drug, overshadowing weak earnings from the German pharma-to-chemicals hybrid.

Merck’s shares plummeted 12 percent after advisors to European Union regulators recommended that Erbitux — which the company sees as a potential blockbuster — should not be used to treat lung tumours, the world’s most common form of cancer.

Sirnaomics this week announced that it has received a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop novel siRNA-based therapeutics for lung cancer.

Thirteen scientists at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute received nearly $5 million in Florida grants to support cancer research.

$1 million to W. Jackson Pledger to understand how lung cancer grows and develops.

A study examining erlotinib-bevacizumab combination therapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) suggests that disease progression can be delayed with this therapy.

These findings were presented by Vincent Miller, MD at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Treatment with a combination of thalidomide and chemotherapy did not improve survival among patients with small cell lung cancer, and resulted in a higher risk of blood clots than treatment with chemotherapy alone. The results of this study were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.