By James R. Jett, M.D.

Lung Cancer Expert Medical Advisory Panel, Scientific Advisory Committee, Scientific and Medical Editorial Review Panel, Professor of Medicine Emeritus, National Jewish Health, and Co-Chief Medical Officer, Biodesix, Inc.

Dr. Jett volunteers for thesecondopinion as a physician-to-physician consultant on complex medical cases. He received his doctorate degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, and completed his internal medicine and pulmonary medicine training at Mayo Graduate School at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He served for 28 years on the staff of Mayo Clinic, had a joint appointment in medical oncology and pulmonary medicine, and was a professor of medicine. In 2010, he joined the faculty at National Jewish Health in Denver, where he was a professor of medicine. His research interest has been in the early detection and screening for lung cancer. His other major interest includes the treatment of lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma, and bronchial carcinoid tumors.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. First, I will start off with some of the sobering statistics followed by GOOD NEWS.

Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the United States and across the world. In the USA, lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths each year than breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined. Tobacco smoking causes 70-80% of all lung cancers, but 20-30% occur in never or minimal smokers, and is more common in women than men. Click here to read full article.

Reviewed by: Joan Venticinque, Patient Advocate, Howard Kleckner, M.D. Medical Director

Maika Onishi, M.D., M.A.S., received her medical degree from UC San Diego School of Medicine in La Jolla, California. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, and her fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, New York. Dr. Onishi is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. She is passionate about advancing treatment options and improving outcomes for patients. Her primary focus lies on clinical research and drug development. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, supporting the arts, and spending time with her family. She is honored to volunteer at thesecondopinion and looks forward to supporting patients and their families in their medical decision making. 

Thesecondopinion recently received recognition as a top rated nonprofit. What is so inspiring is the comments patients make about receiving a second opinion. Below is a quote from a patient.

"They respond, they show up, they go above and beyond, they care, are connected to very knowledgeable and insightful and caring doctors who provided me with the opinions I truly needed. I feel more at peace knowing I have them to lean on and my sons will have their mom to watch them grown up. This is truly what a non profit is and should be. They are leaders in helping people like me get what they need in order to survive."

If you click here you will be directed to thesecondopinion's Great Nonprofits review page, where you can read the reviews and leave one of your own.

November and December are critical months for thesecondopinion. We receive the majority of our revenue the last two months of the year and it determines how many cancer patients we can serve in 2024.

A big thank you to Joni Venticinque for designing our Fall donor card (pictured above) and everyone that wrote personal notes to donors. Our goal is to raise $130,000 in the next two months. If you haven't made your annual donation you can do so by clicking on the button below. We appreciate you and all you do for cancer patients.