Precision Treatment for Lung Cancer: What Asian American and All Patients Should Know

Lung cancer in Asian American communities often presents with unique biological and clinical features — particularly among individuals without a smoking history. Advances in molecular testing, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy are transforming treatment options and improving outcomes.

In this Community Health Talk, Dr. Joel Neal, medical oncologist and thoracic cancer specialist at Stanford Medicine, will explain how precision medicine is changing the landscape of lung cancer care. He will discuss the importance of biomarker testing, targeted treatments for specific genetic alterations, and the expanding role of immunotherapy. Dr. Neal will also highlight the critical role of clinical trials in advancing new therapies and improving access to innovative treatments.

Speaker: 

Dr. Joel Neal maintains an active thoracic medical oncology practice, designs, and conducts clinical trials, and facilitates translational research collaborations. His clinical trials expertise includes overcoming acquired resistance to targeted therapies, understanding, and improving the efficacy of immunotherapy, and applying circulating tumor DNA technology to inform treatment decisions. He has published dozens of articles in the field of thoracic oncology, including Lancet Oncology, Nature Medicine, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He leads the Stanford Thoracic Clinical Research Group and improves the Stanford cancer clinical research enterprise as medical director of the Cancer Clinical Trials Office. As IT Medical Director of the Stanford Cancer Center, he maintains and enhances the EPIC electronic health record to benefit providers and patients, and effects change through the NCCN EHR Oncology Advisory Group. He serves as study chair and thoracic core committee member in the ECOG-ACRIN cooperative group, is an active participant within the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and contributes to the CME and Education committees within the International Association of the Study of Lung Cancer (IALSC). He has presented worldwide to educate clinicians and researchers.