While fewer than 2 percent of all lung cancer cases are found in young people, the disease is still a concern for those under fifty years old, especially smokers and people regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. Fortunately, two new clinical trials show promise for anyone diagnosed with or at risk of the disease.

A drug called Alveltamig, which began trials in October 2025 at Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center, binds cancer cells to T cells (white blood cells that fight pathogens and disease), potentially adding years of life to patients with small cell lung cancer. And LungVax, a preventative vaccine designed to teach people’s immune systems to recognize the earliest changes to cells that can develop into tumors, will start a trial this summer at the University of Oxford and University College London in the UK.

The American Cancer Society reports that lung cancer accounted for about one in five of all cancer deaths in the U.S. last year. It’s the most frequently diagnosed form of cancer, but also the most preventable one.