People have come to expect the color pink to be worn and promoted throughout the month of October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But when November rolls around, what’s much less talked about is Lung Cancer Awareness Month — despite the astounding fact that lung cancer is the world’s most deadly form of cancer and kills more people each year in the United States than colon, breast, and prostate cancer combined.
In July 2024, 23andMe launched our 23andMe Lung Cancer Genetics Study, with the hope of understanding more about how genetics can influence lung cancer in order to improve detection, risk reduction, and care. With a goal of enrolling 10,000 people diagnosed with lung cancer, we partnered with over 20 nonprofits, advocacy groups, and research institutions to help advance this research. Working together, in just six weeks, we were able to enroll over 1,000 study participants, paving the way for future studies to advance our understanding of the disease, its risk factors, and potential treatments.
What wasn’t as publicized about this study is that it was created in close partnership with our CEO and Co-Founder Anne Wojcicki’s sister, Susan, former CEO of YouTube. Susan was shocked to learn at the end of 2022 that she had metastatic lung cancer. The more she learned, the more she realized there is an urgent need for better awareness, screening and treatment. Lung cancer can impact both people who have and have not smoked tobacco, but there has been a recent increase in lung cancer cases among people who have never smoked. Susan was also shocked to learn that only 5% of the people who qualify for lung cancer screening — people over 50 who have a 20 pack-year smoking history — get the low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) that detects early lung cancer. Lung cancer is often curable when it’s found early but difficult to treat once it’s metastatic.
Susan tragically passed away in the summer of 2024. She was committed to advocating for additional lung cancer research in order to improve outcomes for other patients. Just before her death, she wrote a blog that she had planned to publish to raise awareness of the disease — including the need for further research and funding. To honor her legacy, Susan’s blog was publicly shared today.
We believe with more research, we can find ways to prevent, detect and treat this deadly disease. We also hope that lives are saved by encouraging high-risk individuals to get the recommended screening. By next November, we hope Lung Cancer Awareness Month gets the attention it needs.
To learn more about the 23andMe study, our collaborators, and eligibility criteria, visit the Lung Cancer Genetics Study landing page.
