A multicenter clinical trial tested the use of lurbinectedin in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which did not meet its primary end point of overall survival. However, the combination of lurbinectedin and doxorubicin was found to be active in patients with SCLC after one prior platinum-based chemotherapy.
Air pollution attributed to lung cancer ranks highest in Balkan countries and Poland, particularly among those aged 50-69. The top five countries are Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, and Poland.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant decline in lung cancer clinical trial enrollment, with 43% fewer participants enrolling between 2019 and 2020. Researchers identified several barriers, including patient concerns about infection and transportation, as well as institutional challenges such as closures and staff availability.
The IMpower010 trial found significant disease-free survival improvement in patients with resected stage II-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer treated with atezolizumab. The study showed a benefit across different disease stages, surgery types, and chemotherapy regimens.
The Phase III POSEIDON trial demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) treated with chemotherapy plus durvalumab and tremelimumab. Durvalumab combined with tremelimumab and chemotherapy reduced the risk of death...
A recent case study from a Barcelona hospital found that nearly 20% of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic. The study revealed a 75% mortality rate among these patients, highlighting the severity of the impact of COVID-19 on this vulnerable population.
Dr. Michael Boyer is the chief clinical officer at The Lighthouse Chris O'Brien comprehensive cancer center in Sydney, Australia. He has been recognized with the Adi F. Gazdar IASLC Merit Award for his pioneering work in molecular pathology and dedication to lung cancer research.
Recent studies published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology have found that rovalpituzumab tesirine is not effective against small cell lung cancer, despite initial promise shown in early clinical trials. The therapy has been plagued by high rates of side effects and lack of survival benefits.
A study published in Journal of Thoracic Oncology found that low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for primary lung cancer is associated with a lower risk of developing brain metastases. Researchers identified 1502 participants diagnosed with lung cancer between 2002 and 2009, where LDCT screening was detected versus other meth...
A new study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology found that using traditional methods like BMI can misclassify obesity as a non-risk factor for lung cancer. The researchers measured visceral fat index through CT scans and found a clear correlation between central obesity and poor lung cancer outcomes.
The study, led by Caicun Zhou, found that sintilimab-gemcitabine/platinum improved progression-free survival over placebo-gemcitabine/platinum. The results demonstrated a 46.4% reduction in disease progression or death risk.
The IASLC Molecular Database Project seeks to accelerate understanding of lung cancer biology, clinical care, and global scale. It aims to provide a platform for deeper, broader understanding of molecular testing and targeted therapy.
A new lymph node collection kit has been shown to improve long-term survival after curative-intent lung cancer surgery. The kit helps surgeons attain complete resection by improving pathologic nodal evaluation, leading to a significant increase in R0 resections and reduction in non-examination of lymph nodes.
Patients with non-small cell lung cancer who enrolled in a phase III early-stage trial showed a high rate of smoking reduction and cessation following study entry. Smoking rates were significantly lower among never-smokers, leading to improved overall survival compared to smokers.
The phase III CROWN study showed that lorlatinib significantly improved progression-free survival compared to crizotinib in patients with previously untreated advanced ALK-positive NSCLC. Patient-reported outcomes also indicated comparable time to treatment deterioration for lung cancer symptoms between the two treatments.
The LCMC3 study showed that neoadjuvant atezolizumab was well tolerated and met its primary endpoint, achieving a major pathologic response rate of 21% in patients without EGFR/ALK mutations. The therapy also showed high complete resection rates and low perioperative morbidity and mortality.
A host immune classifier test may help guide immunotherapy treatment decisions for patients with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer. The test, which measures inflammation in the body, is associated with longer overall survival and better treatment response.
Researchers analyzed mRNA expression levels of molecular markers ERCC1 and thymidylate synthase in patients with resected stage II-III non-small cell lung cancer. The study found no correlation between these markers and overall survival, contradicting previous hopes for a personalized chemotherapy approach.
A nationwide lung cancer LDCT screening study found the effectiveness of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening in a pre-defined, never-smoker population. The study revealed that family history significantly increased lung cancer risk, and most participants had stage 0 or 1 disease.
The Checkpoint Blockade for Inhibition of Relapsed Mesothelioma (CONFIRM) study demonstrated that nivolumab significantly improves overall and progression-free survival in patients with relapsed malignant mesothelioma. The treatment also showed a consistent safety profile without new adverse effects.
Two ADAURA analyses presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) Singapore support the use of Osimertinib as a new treatment strategy for patients with surgically resected, Stage IB to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer. The data show significant disease-free surviva...
Researchers investigating lung cancer treatment during the pandemic found that patients with lung cancer experience higher levels of psychological distress and anxiety about accessing care. The study also revealed that patient advocacy organizations face challenges in providing support due to decreased funding.
Researchers presented two radiation oncology trials that aimed to improve local tumor control in NSCLC patients. One trial found no significant difference in 2-year local-regional tumor progression-free rates between adaptive and standard radiation therapy arms, while another study demonstrated excellent local control rates with dose e...
Researchers found that combining ipilimumab with pembrolizumab did not significantly improve overall survival or progression-free survival for patients with NSCLC. The combination was also associated with greater treatment-related adverse events.
In the phase II CodeBreak 100 trial, sotorasib demonstrated a confirmed response rate of 32.2%, a median duration of response of 10.9 months, and a median progression-free survival of 6.3 months in patients with pretreated NSCLC and KRAS p.G12C mutations.
Research highlights barriers to lung cancer care for marginalized communities, including racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and low-income patients. Key findings also show sex disparities in lung cancer incidence rates across countries.
The study identified 42 deleterious variants in 35 genes among patients with small cell lung cancer, including MLH1, BRCA2, and MUTYH germline mutations. These variants were associated with increased risk of first-degree relatives with cancer or lung cancer and longer recurrence-free survival following platinum-based chemotherapy.
A study in Journal of Thoracic Oncology found that routine thoracic surgery and invasive examinations were performed safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyzed data from a single Chinese hospital and showed that careful screening, patient protection, and effective medical staff precautions enabled safe operations.
Researchers at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre found that over 80% of advanced NSCLC patients had genomic alterations detected in cfDNA. Liquid biopsies were shown to be a timely and effective method for diagnosing and monitoring the disease, with actionable alterations detected in over 56% of treatment-naïve patients.
A pilot study comparing liquid biopsy with tissue-based test found that liquid biopsy results were approximately 10 days faster than tissue biopsy. Liquid biopsy identified actionable genes in 14 cases, while tissue biopsy only detected them in 11 cases.
A recent study found that combining aspirin, metformin, and statins may decrease lung cancer incidence and mortality. The research analyzed data from over 732,000 Koreans and discovered that concurrent use of these medications was associated with lower risk and mortality rates.
A study found that current USPSTF and CMS guidelines for lung cancer screening undercount African Americans due to their age, smoking history, and quitting time. The PLCOm2012 model improved sensitivity in both Whites and African American ever-smokers, eliminating the eligibility disparity.
The combination of first-line nivolumab and ipilimumab demonstrated an improvement in overall survival compared to platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. The study showed a two-year overall survival rate of 40.8% for the treatment arm vs 27.0% for the chemotherapy arm.
The addition of sintilimab to pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, with a nearly two-fold increase observed. The overall response rate was also higher in the sintilimab-combination group compared to the placebo combination.
In a Phase 3 study, ensartinib demonstrated statistically significant longer progression-free survival compared to crizotinib in ALK+ NSCLC patients. The study found that ensartinib significantly prolonged overall response rate and time-to-treatment-failure rate in brain metastases
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer found that molecular testing rates for lung cancer are less than 50% in most countries. The most frequent barrier to testing was cost, followed by quality/standards and access.
A review of lung cancer treatments for patients with COVID-19 was published to assist oncologists in addressing the challenges presented by these patients. The guidelines balance risk of exposure and infection with effective care, taking into account existing comorbidities.
A recent study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology found that lung cancer clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry demonstrate no more bias compared to studies funded by other sources. The analysis, led by Dr. Pedro Aguiar, assessed 477 studies and found that pharmaceutical-backed trials had stronger evidence, ev...
Including smoking cessation with existing lung cancer screening efforts would significantly reduce lung cancer mortality and increase life-years gained. The study found that point-of-screening cessation interventions could further reduce lung cancer deaths by 14% and increase life-years gained by 81%.
A study has described the pathology of SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19, for the first time in its early phase. The research reveals edema, proteinaceous exudate, and inflammatory cellular infiltration in patients with COVID-19 pneumonina.
Recent advances in immunotherapy are starting to show hope for small cell lung cancer patients, but current treatments have limited durability and many patients don't respond. Researchers call for further exploration of underlying disease mechanisms and development of predictive biomarkers to advance the field.
A new study presented at the IASLC 2019 North America Conference on Lung Cancer found that lung cancer screening guidelines are inadequate to diagnose patients who contract lung cancer from occupational exposure, including first responders. Low-dose computed tomography was shown to detect disease earlier in this population.
A nurse-led follow-up service has improved patient care for those with early-stage lung cancer by increasing clinic capacity, reducing waiting times, and ensuring continuity of care. The service also promotes junior medical training and is well-received by patients and the multidisciplinary team.
The KEYNOTE-024 trial found that pembrolizumab significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Patients treated with pembrolizumab had a median overall survival of 26.3 months compared to 14.2 months for those on chemotherapy.
The Impower131 Trial found that atezolizumab + chemotherapy improved overall survival by 3.9 months compared to chemotherapy alone, particularly among patients with high PD-L1 expression. Treatment-related side effects were common but manageable in both arms.
Patients taking nivolumab experience a significant five-fold increase in overall survival, with five-year rates of 13.4% compared to docetaxel's 2.6%. Long-term benefits and improved progression-free survival have been observed with nivolumab treatment.
A survey of European patients with lung cancer revealed that many were unaware of or had never heard of clinical trials. Despite positive experiences by over 50%, respondents identified difficulties in accessing trials, including language barriers, limited information, and disparities across Europe.
The bioMILD trial demonstrated that a blood microRNA assay, combined with low-dose CT screening, is safe and effective in enhancing lung cancer prevention. Preliminary analysis showed a significantly higher lung cancer incidence and overall mortality in subjects with positive LDCT and/or miRNA at baseline.
The LIBRETTO-001 trial showed that selpercatinib achieved high response rates of up to 68% in patients with RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer. The median duration of response was also notable at 20.3 months, with an intracranial objective response rate of 91%.
The NLMT trial tests eight targeted therapies tailored to specific molecular changes in cancer cells. Researchers found promising responses with single-agent targeted therapy, particularly in oncogene-addicted NSCLC, and identified potential biomarkers for further research.