Sean Swarmer knows what it is like to overcome obstacles. A two-time cancer survivor, he was told as a child that he had just weeks to live. Now he has become the first cancer survivor to summit Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, MyFoxDC.com reported.

“The chances of me surviving both these cancers is equivalent to me winning the lottery four times in a row with the same numbers,” Swarmer said.

Avila Therapeutics won an admirer and a collaborator when it inked a $209 million deal to partner up on one of its covalent drug programs with Clovis Oncology, a start-up backed with some serious cash and headed by an experienced crew of biotech players.

Boulder, CO-based Clovis agreed to pay an unspecified upfront and a slate of regulatory and sales milestones that add up to the $209 million total. And Clovis steps in to collaborate on the preclinical development of an Avila program for non small-cell lung cancer. The program–which Waltham, MA-based Avila is promising has unique covalent bonding ability–targets the T790M mutant form of the EGFR associated with resistance to Tarceva and Iressa, as well as targeting the initial activating EGFR mutations.

And FINALLY….here are our 16 “ANYONE Can Get Lung Cancer” contest winners!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who donated and to those who generously donated all of the prizes. You guys TOTALLY ROCK!

This was a three week social media campaign. In those short three weeks YOU donated $7650 to lung cancer research. THAT is absolutely incredible. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

Watch to see who wins!

And FINALLY….here are our 16 “ANYONE Can Get Lung Cancer” contest winners!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who donated and to those who generously donated all of the prizes. You guys TOTALLY ROCK!

This was a three week social media campaign. In those short three weeks YOU donated $7650 to lung cancer research. THAT is absolutely incredible. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

Watch to see who wins!

Maintenance therapy with erlotinib for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer given immediately after initial chemotherapy is well-tolerated and significantly prolongs progression-free survival, according to research published online May 20 in The Lancet Oncology.

Federico Cappuzzo, M.D., of the Ospedale Civile di Livorno, Italy, and colleagues studied 884 patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had completed initial chemotherapy and did not have progressive disease during that time. The patients were randomized to either erlotinib maintenance chemotherapy or placebo until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or death.

An experimental drug being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) when used with chemotherapy appeared to keep advanced lung cancer from progressing modestly longer than chemotherapy alone, according to a summary of data from a mid-stage study.

The biotechnology drug ipilimumab, which augments the body’s immune response by inhibiting certain proteins, kept advanced non-small cell lung cancer from worsening about a month longer when given in addition to a chemotherapy regimen, data from an abstract of the study showed.

Among people with non-small-cell lung cancer, treatment with the drug erlotinib (Tarceva) after chemotherapy appears to slightly boost survival rates, a new study suggests.

Non-small-cell lung cancer makes up about 85 percent of lung cancer cases. About half the time, people have advanced disease when diagnosed and are treated solely with chemotherapy, usually platinum-based chemo. But chemotherapy only boosts survival by eight to 10 months, the study authors noted.

Among people with non-small-cell lung cancer, treatment with the drug erlotinib (Tarceva) after chemotherapy appears to slightly boost survival rates, a new study suggests.

Non-small-cell lung cancer makes up about 85 percent of lung cancer cases. About half the time, people have advanced disease when diagnosed and are treated solely with chemotherapy, usually platinum-based chemo. But chemotherapy only boosts survival by eight to 10 months, the study authors noted.

The study findings, which support the use of erlotinib as a “maintenance” treatment, are based on research by Dr. Federico Cappuzzo of the Civil Hospital of Livorno in Italy and his colleagues. The researchers tested the drug in 889 people who’d had chemotherapy and whose disease had not gotten worse. They were randomly assigned to take erlotinib or an inactive placebo.

Ben Ashmore, redshirt junior wrestler for ARIZONA STATE, and the STANFORD women’s  rowing team, have been named recipients of the 2010 Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today.

Ashmore, a native of Dallas, Texas, is a two-year member of the Sun Devil wrestling team, having competed for ASU for the first time this season after transferring from Oklahoma State in 2008-09. Since moving to ASU, Ashmore voluntarily moved to a different weight class, competing at 133 lbs., despite being nationally ranked at 125 lbs to allow teammate Anthony Robles, an All-American, to compete at 125 lbs. Ashmore earned his first-career at-large individual bid to the NCAA Championship after finishing fourth at the Pac-10 Championships in his weight class.

… Earlier this season, the Cardinal set aside its rivalry to participate in Cal’s “Jog for Jill,” a race named in honor of Golden Bears’ coxswain Jill Costello who was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer…

Diversity will be celebrated today in Redwood City as the San Mateo County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hosts its second Mayors’ Diversity Celebration Awards.

The event is meant to extol the unique contributions that people from diverse backgrounds add to the community.

The Mayors’ Diversity Celebration Awards will honor 23 diverse individuals from every city in the county who make a difference in the community — from a tribal chief who inspires other women to lead to a rabbi that created a unique interactive multi-faith network of over 400 clergy members.

The event is the brainchild of chamber President Jorge Jaramillo who looks to link Hispanic and other minority youth with respected role models.

“We need diverse perspectives and leaders to find new approaches to solve the ever complex issues our communities face today,” Jaramillo said.