“She was the picture of health,” recalls Andrea Myers, a cancer physician and scientist at Novartis. Seven years ago, Myers’ young and fit former medical school classmate was diagnosed – inexplicably – with lung cancer. She died two years later. 

A lung cancer diagnosis often comes as a shock. The disease tends to progress silently, with few symptoms. For most people it is not discovered until it has already advanced. At this point, the disease is very difficult to treat. Fewer than 20% of patients survive more than five years.

Innovative medicines have helped, but lung cancer …