September is Prostate Cancer and Blood Cancer Awareness Month, and while these diseases may not seem to have much in common, in fact they share inseparable characteristics. Despite significant treatment innovations in recent years, many patients still struggle with the diseases and too many lives are lost.

While childhood allergic disease is often diagnosed a few years after birth, recent science indicates that some root causes of disease may initiate early in life.¹ Pregnancy and early childhood years, therefore, provide a unique window for detecting disease risk and intervening to induce healthy development and prevent disease.

The Question that Drives Clinical Trial Innovation

Lung Cancer Awareness Month offers an opportunity to pause and assess how we address this complex and deadly disease. We must continually ask ourselves: How can we best serve patients affected by lung cancer? 

The question is far from abstract. Tragically, lung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers. Worldwide, an estimated 2.1 million people will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, and 1.8 million will die. That is far too many people. We have much room and need for improvement.

In this article, senior Janssen leaders discuss strategies for shaping more diverse, inclusive, and equitable clinical trials.

At the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, we recognize all those who assume the responsibility of caring for a loved one with a serious illness or disability. We are committed to supporting our colleagues who are caregivers — so they can also take care of themselves.

This week, I’m looking forward to joining colleagues at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s (IASLC) 2020 World Congress Lung Cancer (WCLC) to reaffirm our commitment to eliminating lung cancer - the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. It’s inspiring to consider the strides that have been made toward improving the lives of those affected by lung cancer over the past year, even while the world has contended with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Twenty-one years ago, when President Bill Clinton declared March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, he highlighted the importance of early detection in improving outcomes associated with the disease and pointed to the lack of identifiable symptoms as a major impediment to early diagnosis. As is always the case, many of the 130,000 colorectal cancers diagnosed in the U.S. that year were found after the cancers had progressed too far to be effectively treated.