The National Lung Cancer Partnership (NLCP) is listed among useful other resources on our website, but they’re actually another nonrofit organization with whom I and OncTalk have had an ongoing cooperative and actually very complementary relationship.  Started by lung cancer expert and true leader Joan Schiller at the UT-Southwestern in Dallas, NLCP started as Women Against Lung Cancer and had a high priority of promoting both the study of lung cancer in women and patient sex differences, and also developing opportunities for female researchers and clinicians in lung cancer.  As it grew, it expanded to include more than sex differences and gained momentum to integrate more men in its mission of research and promotion of the entire field of lung cancer.  It has coninued to grow as a stronge voice in the lung cancer community, and it has increased its partnerships as part of a larger network to strengthen the lung cancer community.  Among these partnerships, they’ve also helped to encourage me and the nascent nonprofit GRACE (athough not with any grant support yet — hint, hint). 

   Patient advocacy is clearly an important part of this community, and the network of complementary organizations advancing the field of lung cancer.  Toward that end, NLCP is running a Lung Cancer Advocacy Summit in Chicago from May 27-29, immediately before the Annual Conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the largest cancer meeting of the year.

  The meeting will cover a range of important topics ranging from a general introduction to lung cancer and the future directions of lung cancer research to very practical issues such as combating the stigma of lung cancer, engaging the media, and influencing the legislative process.  These are the very topics we all agree need to be tackled, so here’s an opportunity to build some real momentum.  More information about the Advocacy Summit is available here, including the detailed agenda here.

   In addition, while the Advocacy Summit is for empowering patients and increasing having patients and health care professionals speak with one voice, NLCP will follow this with their 2008 NLCP Annual Meeting (information here) on the following day (May 30, 2008), also in Chicago.  This is a more research-oriented program developed to provide new information to health care professionals about emerging issues in lung cancer research, but patients and other advocates are also welcome to attend. 

   For people who live near or can get to Chicago (and there aren’t many places much easier to get to than Chicago, at least until you need to drive in from the airport), this is an opportunity to meet with other people who share a commitment to lung cancer research and education, to move the field forward by working together.