Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD, of Stanford School of Medicine, discusses promising clinical applications of circulating tumor DNA in patients with thoracic malignancies: noninvasive detection of resistance mechanisms to targeted agents and treatment response assessment.
Douglas E. Wood, MD, of the University of Washington, discusses the importance of broad access to and education about lung cancer screening—now approved for people at high risk for the disease—and the need for expanded criteria for screening eligibility.
Jennifer Ho, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, discusses study results on the use of intensity-modulated proton therapy, which can provide durable local control with minimal toxicity in patients who can have extended survivals; the data also suggest that higher doses may improve outcomes (Abstract 5).
Kamran Ahmed, MD, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses results from a small study of pneumonitis in patients who received thoracic radiotherapy within 6 months of anti–PD-1 therapy, anti–PD-L1 therapy, anti–CTLA-4 therapy, or some combination of these drugs (Abstract 10).
Richard J. Cassidy III, MD, of Emory Winship Cancer Institute, discusses results from a multicenter analysis of stereotactic body radiotherapy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer in patients 80 years and older; the patients tolerated the treatment well and had excellent estimated rates of 5-year cancer-specific survival (Abstract 111).
Zhongxing Liao, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the continued improvement in planning, delivery, and patient selection for proton therapy, which can both reduce radiation exposure and increase tumor dose.
