How to recruit lung cancer patients for clinical trials

How many people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year?

The American Cancer Society estimates 229,410 new cases of lung and bronchus cancer in the United States in 2026: 110,910 in men and 118,500 in women (American Cancer Society 2026). That is fewer new cases than breast cancer (321,910) or prostate cancer (333,830).

A simple ratio puts the competition in perspective. The American Cancer Society reports 229,410 new lung and bronchus cancer cases expected in 2026. Divided across 876 recruiting studies, that is roughly 262 people per study nationally, before eligibility criteria, geography, and patient willingness cut the pool down. Most of those patients will never hear about a trial unless a physician brings it up.

Compare that with breast cancer. Lung cancer has about 29% fewer new patients a year, yet nearly as many recruiting studies, and more of them are industry funded (361 industry interventional trials versus 217 for breast cancer). For a site, that means more sponsor opportunities and tighter competition for each patient.

How many lung cancer trials are recruiting in the United States right now?

As of October 6, 2026, ClinicalTrials.gov lists 876 lung cancer studies with a status of recruiting and at least one location in the United States (ClinicalTrials.gov). Of those, 728 are interventional trials and 148 are observational studies. Industry is the lead sponsor on 390 of them, about 45%. Academic centers, cooperative groups, and government sponsors run the rest.

Interventional lung cancer trials by phase:

The median interventional trial targets 138 participants in total across all of its sites. The typical industry funded trial lists 11 recruiting locations in the United States, so each site is usually expected to deliver a small slice of that total, and sponsors notice quickly which sites deliver none.

Where are lung cancer trials concentrated?

Every location on every recruiting study counts here. Together the 876 studies list 16,201 recruiting US locations. These states host the most recruiting studies:

The most frequently listed institutions include Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The industry sponsors with the most recruiting lung cancer trials right now include AstraZeneca, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie, and Pfizer. If your site sits in one of the top states, you are recruiting from the same patient population as several large academic programs at once, and the patients who reach you will mostly come through the physicians who already treat them.

Which physicians see lung cancer patients first?

Lung cancer patients often reach an oncologist only after a scan, a pulmonology workup, and a biopsy. Every one of those steps is a referral point:

• Medical oncologists, who manage systemic treatment and decide when a patient is between lines of therapy. The AAMC counts 18,612 active hematology and oncology physicians (AAMC 2024 via Becker's).
• Pulmonologists, who work up nodules and perform many of the biopsies that establish the diagnosis.
• Thoracic surgeons, for resectable disease and perioperative studies. The AAMC counts 4,772 active thoracic surgeons.
• Radiation oncologists, for chemoradiation and stereotactic radiotherapy studies.

What decides eligibility in lung cancer trials?

Many lung cancer trials are written around biomarkers, histology (small cell versus non small cell), stage, and prior lines of therapy. A trial for a specific genetic alteration may only fit a small share of patients, which is why the median lung cancer interventional trial targets 138 participants spread across many sites. Ask referring oncologists for the molecular report up front. Tufts CSDD puts the average screen failure rate across Phase 2 and 3 trials at 36.3% (Tufts CSDD), and biomarker driven studies give sites every reason to prescreen on paper first.

Why physician referral matters more than volume

A large patient population does not fill trials on its own. Physicians refer a median of about five patients into clinical trials per year, which is less than 0.2% of their annual patient volume (Getz, Applied Clinical Trials). In Tufts CSDD research, physicians and nurses named lack of access to study information and lack of time as the main reasons they do not refer, and physicians in clinical practice were 2.7 times more likely to refer than physicians in hospital settings (Tufts CSDD via Applied Clinical Trials).

That is the gap a site can close. The physicians who diagnose and manage your study population already know which patients are likely to qualify. They need a short, specific summary of your open study, a named coordinator, and a reason to believe the patient will come back to them.

A practical lung cancer referral plan for your site

1. Pull the live ClinicalTrials.gov list for your state and note which competing studies are enrolling the same population within driving distance of your site.
2. List the medical oncologists, pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, and radiation oncologists within a realistic drive of your site. Community practices come first.
3. Send each physician a one page study summary: the diagnosis, the two or three criteria that decide most eligibility, what the patient will experience, and the coordinator's direct line.
4. Follow up by email and LinkedIn, and call the practices that engage.
5. Report back to the referring physician on every patient, whether or not the patient enrolls.

See how to get physicians to refer patients and the referral letter guide for templates.