Lung cancer patients aren’t all smokers. And all clinical trials aren’t all funded.

Lung cancer is the deadliest and most underfunded cancer. And believe it or not, many victims of lung cancer never smoked a day in their lives. The Kathleen M. Rotz Lung Cancer Research Fund was established to raise money and awareness of this disease. Our Annual 5K Run/Walk is held in memory of Kathy, a non-smoker who died of lung cancer in 2014. Unlike many cancer charity events, 100% of all donations go to the talented team of doctors and researchers at the University of Pennsylvania who treated Kathy. Every dollar donated will go directly to the cause.

Lung Cancer can take your life without you ever having smoked a day of it.

This year alone, 155,870 people will die of lung cancer and 28,056 of these people never smoked—the majority of them women. All proceeds of the fund go directly to the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center for the continued development of a promising new clinical trial in the battle against advanced lung cancer. Please donate or participate, and help us eradicate lung cancer, for now, forever, and for Kathy.

You don’t have to smoke to get lung cancer. You don’t have to be a runner to help.

When you participate in the Kathleen M. Rotz Lung Cancer Research Fund every dollar you raise goes directly to frontline research to find a cure for lung cancer—every single dollar. Not towards nonprofit administrative costs—or “awareness,” but to promising new clinical trials at Penn targeting lung cancer tumors using the body’s own T-cells. This dramatic new treatment has produced a 50–70% cure rate for patients with other forms of cancer. And since lung cancer is the most underfunded and deadliest form of cancer affecting many non-smokers, your participation can literally help save lives.

Lung Cancer is the leading cancer killer in men and women in every ethnic group.

Every day 427 Americans die of lung cancer.
Lung Cancer makes up 26% of all cancer deaths.
The five year survival rate for lung cancer is 17.9% due to the high percentage of late stage diagnoses and inadequate federal funding and research.

How Can I Help?