World-renowned lung cancer experts offer treatment breakthroughs and highly specialized cancer care
City of Hope Orange County is changing the lung cancer story by providing residents much-needed early detection screenings, innovative prevention programs, and top experts in lung cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment. The world-renowned cancer research and treatment organization is also correcting the myth that lung cancer is only a disease of people who smoke.
“Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in Orange County. City of Hope is responding to this pressing need by bringing our world-renowned lung cancer experts and pioneering research closer to home for patients and their families,” said Annette M. Walker, President, City of Hope Orange County. “We are here for everyone impacted by this disease.”
City of Hope Orange County is addressing lung cancer incidence in the community and speaking out about available resources for prevention, early detection, and the highly specialized lung cancer care available at its four Orange County locations. City of Hope is currently taking appointments for lung cancer screenings at its Newport Beach Fashion Island location, with screening taking place at Newport Diagnostic Center.
“There’s a real need to separate lung cancer facts from fiction. Although people who smoke and people exposed to secondhand smoke are at high risk, it can impact anyone with lungs at just about any age,” says Edward S. Kim, M.D., M.B.A, City of Hope Orange County Physician-in-Chief and renowned lung cancer specialist. “Perhaps even more importantly, advanced cancer centers like City of Hope are working on new therapies that offer better outcomes than even a decade ago.”
City of Hope Orange County is working with The White Ribbon Project, an international organization dedicated to promoting awareness about lung cancer. Heidi Onda co-founded The White Ribbon Project with her husband Pierre, a primary care physician, after being diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer three years ago. She had no known risk factors or symptoms and did not know then that anyone could get the disease.
She has since learned the sobering statistics about the disease, which kills more people than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined and is the leading cause of cancer deaths for both men and women.
“Why isn’t this common knowledge?” she said, adding that radon exposure is the number one cause of lung cancer for people who have never smoked. “The White Ribbon Project aims to increase awareness of the facts about lung cancer by changing the public perception of the disease. Lung cancer can happen to anyone, no one deserves it, and we need to talk about it.”
Danny Nguyen, M.D., a medical oncologist and hematologist who treats patients at City of Hope Huntington Beach and City of Hope Irvine Sand Canyon, says people can reduce some of the risk factors for lung cancer through lifestyle choices but other factors like age and genetic mutations cannot be controlled. “I have patients in their 30s and 40s who have been diagnosed with lung cancer despite having never smoked,” he said.
Lung cancer survivor and grateful patient Sherman Johnson, who is benefitting from Dr. Nguyen’s expertise and personalized care, attests to the lifesaving benefits of lung cancer research and pioneering treatment.
“It’s important to call attention to the impact of this disease as well as the need for greater funding of lung cancer research that is leading to breakthroughs in treatment,” said Johnson, who never smoked. “My lung cancer story was changed by pioneering science, and it may change yours.”
For more information on City of Hope Orange County’s lung cancer screening and treatment programs, visit CityofHope.org/orange-county/lung.
To make an appointment at any of City of Hope’s four Orange County locations, call the numbers below.
Newport Beach Fashion Island: (949) 763-2204
Newport Beach Lido: (949) 999-1400
Irvine Sand Canyon: (949) 333-7580
Huntington Beach: (714) 252-9415
