Protect Funding for Lung Cancer and ALK-positive Cancer Research

ATLANTA, February 20, 2025 – The ALK Positive organization stands with patients, families, healthcare providers, researchers, and the broader medical community in our mission to increase survival for those at risk, diagnosed, and living with ALK-positive cancer.

We are deeply concerned with the devastating impact that severely and suddenly reducing the budget of the National Institute of Health (NIH) will have on medical research across our country. The termination of employees at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the NIH, as well as limiting indirect costs for scientific grants, will impede critical scientific advances that ALL cancer patients need – ultimately endangering public health.

GovernmentKirk SmithFebruary 22, 2025advocacy, Research

RAISE YOUR VOICE AS A CANCER PATIENT: Advocacy Letter Template

Dear Senator (or Congress woman/man) XXXXX,

As one of your constituents from XXXXXX, I wanted to let you know that I am deeply concerned about the current administration’s funding cuts to NIH. For the past XXX years I have been living with stage 4 lung cancer – ALK positive – a subtype that has FDA approved drugs that will keep the cancer in remission for a period of time, but not forever.

GovernmentKirk SmithFebruary 20, 2025Political Advocacy, Letter Template

FDA approves crizotinib for ALK-positive inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor

On July 14, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration approved crizotinib (Xalkori, Pfizer Inc.) for adult and pediatric patients 1 year of age and older with unresectable, recurrent, or refractory inflammatory anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive myofibroblastic tumors (IMT).

Government, ResearchKirk SmithJuly 18, 2022Xalkori

Revival of Cancer Moonshot initiative announced by President Biden

In February 2022, President Biden announced and laid out an ambitious agenda to boost and speed up the fight against cancer, including a national year of action on cancer screening and a new Cancer Cabinet to drive progress government-wide. President Biden announced a revival of his audacious 2016 initiative - Cancer Moonshot - that is designed to dramatically accelerate progress against cancer.

GovernmentKirk SmithMarch 22, 2022Cancer moonshot