South Florida Community Connections: Decoding Your DNA - Is Lung Cancer Biomarker Testing Right for Me?
You’re invited to participate in an enlightening discussion on lung cancer biomarker testing a pathway to improving lung cancer treatments.
Join us online at noon on Tuesday, September 19, where you will hear from Dr. Luis Raez, Medical Director and Chief Scientific Officer, Memorial Cancer Institute. Dr. Raez will talk about lung cancer biomarker testing what it is, who should consider it, and why it should be on every lung cancer patient’s radar. Audience members are invited to ask questions, and this free event will be hosted on Facebook Live and via Zoom.
Questions for the Speaker?
Email your questions for Dr. Raez to Chrissy.Cohen@Lung.org by Monday, September 18. We look forward to answering your questions during the live session on Tuesday!
Biomarker Testing At A Glimpse:
Lung cancer biomarker testing—sometimes referred to as tumor, molecular, or genomic testing—looks for changes in the tumor's DNA.
Think of your DNA like words in a book. Sometimes there are typos leading to the words in the book meaning something different. In the case of lung cancer, these changes to the “words” can lead to uncontrolled cell growth and cancer. Some lung cancer treatments "target" these changes directly. These lung cancer treatments often cause fewer side effects because they focus on targeting what is exactly wrong with the cancer cell, instead of killing normal, healthy cells too.
Featured Speaker
Dr. Luis Raez
Medical Director and Chief Scientific Officer Memorial Cancer Institute
Dr. Raez specializes in treating patients with lung, head and neck cancers, and is the Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program and Oncology Research at the Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood.
A critical component of his work at Memorial is cancer research. Dr Raez designs phase I-III clinical trials with new chemotherapeutic agents and combinations, as well as translational research in the areas of cancer vaccines. His research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute and by the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Raez teaches the next generation of oncologists as a clinical associate professor of medicine at Florida International University and visiting professor of medicine at Cayetano Heredia University in Peru. He is also an affiliate associate professor of clinical biomedical science for Florida Atlantic University.
Dr. Raez is active in many medical organizations and gives oral presentations and lectures during national and international meetings in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Currently, he is the International Chair of the IASLC-Latin American Meeting (LALCA) since 2014; Chairman for the Miami Best of ASCO since 2014, Chair and Founder of the Miami Cancer Meeting (MCM) since 2002, and Co-Chairman at the Puerto Rico Fall Cancer Symposia (FCS) since 2010.
Dr. Raez is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. He is board eligible in hematology. He is a member and serves on several committees with: AACR, ESMO, ASCO, IASLC, ALLIANCE, NCCTG, ACCP, ACP, ACSG, SLACOM, FLASCO among other institutions.
Prior to joining Memorial, Dr. Raez was an associate professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health, and a co-director of Thoracic Oncology at Sylvester Cancer Center/University of Miami for 10 years (2001-2011).
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Dr. Raez specializes in treating patients with lung, head and neck cancers, and is the Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program and Oncology Research at the Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood.