Changing the landscape of non-small cell lung cancer disparities

In the United States, lung and bronchus cancers are the second most common types of cancer and are responsible for the largest number of deaths from cancer, with African Americans suffering disproportionately from lung and bronchus cancers. This disparity likely results from a complex interplay among social, psycho-social, lifestyle, environmental, health system, and biological determinants of health. Toward improving outcomes for lung cancer patients of all races and ethnicities and mitigating lung cancer disparities, in this commentary, we bring forward biological factors that contribute to lung cancer disparities, efforts to identify, functionally characterize, and modulate novel ancestry-related RNA splicing-related targets in lung cancer for precision intervention, and translational and clinical research needs to improve outcomes for lung cancer patients of all races and ethnicities and mitigate lung cancer disparities.