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More patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) could benefit from pembrolizumab (Keytruda), said Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, Chief of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. Dr. Herbst presented promising results from the pivotal phase...
Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-activating mutations in advanced lung cancer seem to benefit more from afatinib (Gilotrif) than gefitinib (Iressa) as first-line treatment, Park et al reported in a study (Abstract LBA2) presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology...
Unlike a number of other cancers in which young age at diagnosis is understood to represent distinct disease biology, the genomics and clinical characteristics of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in young patients are poorly understood. A study by Sacher et al investigating the relationship ...
Findings in an early-terminated German phase III trial (ESPATUE), reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Eberhardt et al, indicate similar outcomes with surgery vs definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy after induction chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy in patients with resectable stage...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to alectinib (Alecensa) for the treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have had disease progression on or are intolerant to crizotinib (Xalkori). ...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ou et al found that the investigational ALK inhibitor alectinib, which is active against acquired crizotinib (Xalkori) resistance mutations and exhibits high CNS penetration, was associated with considerable activity in patients with ...
Women with a certain type of lung nodule visible on lung cancer screening computed topography (CT) exams face a higher risk of lung cancer than men with similar nodules, according to a new study (SSA04-02) presented by Boiselle et al November 29 at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cai et al found intratumoral genetic heterogeneity of ALK rearrangement and coexisting ALK rearrangement and EGFR mutation in lung adenocarcinomas. Study Details The study involved evaluation for ALK fusions and EGFR mutations in 629...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved necitumumab (Portrazza) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Necitumumab is not indicated for treatment of nonsquamous NSCLC....
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Gentles et al identified a nine-gene molecular prognostic index that improved the overall survival prognostic power of clinical factors in patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study Details In the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Johung and colleagues identified factors that distinguished survival rates among patients with ALK-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and brain metastasis. The study included 90 patients from six institutions. Of them, 84...
For patients with kidney failure, poor kidney function and immunosuppressant medications may increase their risk of developing different types of cancer. The findings, which are published by Yanik et al in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, suggest the need for persistent cancer...
The likelihood of receiving curative-intent surgery for patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) varies substantially from state to state, according to data presented at the Eighth American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for an oral medication to treat patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Osimertinib (Tagrisso) is now approved for patients whose tumors have a specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation ...
An analysis of data from 46,803 patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received palliative chest radiation therapy found that 49% received radiotherapy for longer than 15 fractions and 28% received more than 25 fractions. This treatment pattern “is inconsistent...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Prince et al found that the hospitalization rate among patients receiving systemic therapy for metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was much higher in observational studies vs clinical trials among studies reporting hospitalization rates. Study...
In a population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Corso et al found that chemoradiotherapy was associated with an overall survival benefit vs chemotherapy in elderly patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Study Details The study involved National Cancer ...
Patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who receive intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) have 44% fewer cases of severe pneumonitis and improved likelihood of completing consolidative chemotherapy after radiation, compared to patients who receive three-dimensional...
The potential risks and harms of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening in current 20 to 29 pack-year smokers needs to be assessed before recommending such screening to this group, according to a study published by Pinsky and Kramer in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute....
Fresh research at Sahlgrenska Academy has found that antioxidants can double the rate of melanoma metastasis in mice. The results reinforce previous findings that antioxidants hasten the progression of lung cancer. According to Martin Bergö, PhD, people with cancer or an elevated risk of...
For a malignant tumor to form, cancer cells must evade the immune system's attack. Numerous studies have already shown that cancer spreads particularly aggressively if there is an unfavorable balance between suppressing and active immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. “But we didn't...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that that blocks the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has endorsed the current American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) guideline on treatment of small cell lung cancer, released in 2013. After review of evidence from an updated literature search covering 2011 to March 2015, an ASCO...
Almost half of patients with advanced lung cancer receive more than the recommended number of radiation treatments to reduce their pain, according to a new study published by Koshy et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Radiation therapy that is palliative can reduce the pain from...
On October 2, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to treat patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has progressed after other treatments and with tumors that express programmed cell...
An international team of researchers has shown that the use of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus can delay tumor growth among both gastrointestinal and lung neuroendocrine tumors. This is particularly important for patients with lung tumors, the researchers say, because there is currently no approved...
A small phase Ia clinical trial investigating whether depleting immune cells called Tregs, which can inhibit anticancer immune responses, with KW-0761, a humanized anti-CCR4 monoclonal antibody, in patients with lung or esophageal cancer has found that the therapy dramatically reduced the number of ...
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive disease that is difficult to treat and is frequently diagnosed only when it has metastasized. Five-year survival rates in SCLC, which accounts for about 14% of all lung cancers, are very low, at only 6%. Researchers presented novel findings (Abstract...
In the phase III RADIANT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kelly et al found no disease-free survival improvement with adjuvant erlotinib (Tarceva) vs placebo in patients with EGFR-expressing stage IB to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, there was evidence of ...
A randomized phase III study by Borghaei et al evaluating the efficacy and safety of nivolumab (Opdivo) vs docetaxel in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy has found that nivolumab improved overall survival, 12.2...
A study among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel or carboplatin-paclitaxel-bevacizumab (Avastin) found that those receiving the bevacizumab combination were more likely to experience a toxicity event but were less likely to be...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Grenda et al found higher mortality and higher failure to rescue rates in patients undergoing lung resection at hospitals with high vs low mortality rates in major cancer resections. Study Details In the study, hospitals with the lowest...
A new statistical model may help predict which patients are most likely to receive life-extending benefits from surgical treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to a report published by Leuzzi et al in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Masters et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on systemic therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Recommendations are based on an update committee systematic review of randomized controlled trials...
Analysis of a large phase III trial (S0819) suggested that adding the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting monoclonal antibody cetuximab (Erbitux) to chemotherapy benefits survival in patients with squamous cell non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tumors positive...
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are one of the most common driver oncogenes in lung cancer, typified by high response rates when treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors and median progression-free survival of 10 months, commonly due to emergence of T790M. The genomic...
Previously, researchers reporting on the SQUIRE study demonstrated that the addition of necitumumab to gemcitabine-cisplatin improved overall survival in patients with stage IV squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Following up on these findings, Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD,...
Adding the monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy for patients with surgically removed non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not improve overall survival, according to research (Abstract PLEN04.03) presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Denver,...
Smoking cessation among patients enrolled in a low-dose computed tomography screening program is associated with a three- to five-time reduction in mortality, according to research (Abstract PLEN04.07) presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Denver, Colorado. The Conference...
Genentech announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s New Drug Application (NDA) and granted Priority Review for alectinib, an oral investigational anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, for the treatment of people with ALK-positive,...
Two phase III studies of anamorelin found that the medication effectively combats wasting and increases body weight and lean body mass in certain patients with lung cancer. Results (Abstract ORAL29.01) from the ROMANA 1 and ROMANA 2 phase III trials of anamorelin were presented at the 16th...
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) issued a new statement on Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation on September 7 at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Denver, Colorado. The statement calls for higher taxes on tobacco products; comprehensive...
The standard of care for malignant pleural mesothelioma may be poised for change, judging by results from a study (Abstract ORAL11.01) by the French Cooperative Thoracic Intergroup. The addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) in the first-line setting to the current standard of care, pemetrexed...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Pless et al in the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research found that adding preoperative radiation following neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not appear to improve outcomes vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone in patients with stage IIIA/N2 non–small...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Veluswamy et al found that limited resection was not equivalent to lobectomy in overall survival among older patients with stage IA invasive adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Among patients with adenocarcinoma,...
Patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer may wait too long to receive treatment, and too many patients skip vital diagnostic steps that are needed to help determine the best possible treatment, according to findings published by Faris et al in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. The 5-year relative ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Liu et al, next-generation sequencing revealed a high frequency of actionable MET mutations in patients with pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma. Study Details In the study, whole-exome sequencing was used in a discovery set of 10 patients...
A large-scale genetic study of the links between telomere length and risk for five common cancers found that long telomeres are associated with an increased risk of lung adenocarcinoma. No significant associations between telomere length and other cancer types or subtypes were observed. The study,...
More than 80,000 people undergo resection of a pulmonary tumor each year, and currently the only method to determine whether the tumor is malignant is histologic analysis. A new study reported that a targeted molecular contrast agent can be used successfully to render lung adenocarcinomas...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Scagliotti et al found that the addition of the MET receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor tivantinib to erlotinib (Tarceva) did not improve overall survival in previously treated patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous ...