Three new advances that will transform lung cancer treatment will change the tide of what is considered a death sentence. In the UK, someone is diagnosed with lung cancer every 10 minutes, with around 50,000 new cases each year, and only a quarter of him survives five years. About 35,000 people die from cancer each year, making it the leading cause of cancer.
But at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago this weekend, treating physicians should be very happy because a series of highly effective new treatments were presented.
Over the last few decades, research has made great strides in tackling other common forms of the disease, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and more recently, the “once hopeless” melanoma skin. New targeted therapies for cancer are increasing the number of patients. Healed effectively.
Experts say a similar breakthrough for lung cancer is intriguingly close.
“When I became a doctor, nobody wanted to specialize in lung cancer because for most patients it was a death sentence and there was no treatment to stop it,” Kings said. * James Spicer, Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at College London, said:
3 New Advancements Transforming Lung Cancer Treatment – Changing the Tide of a Disease Seen as a Death Sentence
“Nowadays, with the advent of new drugs, even patients whose cancer has spread throughout the body can now live for 10 or even 15 years or more.
“We are at a point where we can start talking about treatments for these advanced patients.”
Perhaps the most excited were early-stage lung cancer patients. A groundbreaking study found that this treatment significantly delayed the recurrence of the disease, and soon people could be given high-tech drugs that boost their immune systems.
This injection, called pembrolizumab, helps the immune system find hidden cancer cells in the body. Currently, this treatment is only offered to NHS patients with advanced lung cancer whose disease has spread. But in the future, it will be able to provide treatment to thousands more.
Researchers at Stanford University in California found that when pembrolizumab was given in parallel with chemotherapy for 3 months before surgery and for 1 year thereafter, it was associated with early-stage lung cancer recurrence compared to a preoperative course of chemotherapy. found that the risk was significantly reduced. .
Perhaps the most excited were early-stage lung cancer patients. Soon we will be able to receive high-tech drugs that boost our immune system, after a breakthrough study found that this treatment significantly delayed the return of the disease.
On average, patients who received the new treatment remained cancer-free for nearly a year, while those who received chemotherapy alone were cancer-free for only four months.
As more people quit smoking, smoking-related lung cancer is on the decline, but nonsmoker-related lung cancer is on the rise, and the reasons for this are not well understood.
The trial involved patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common disease, accounting for approximately 80% of new lung cancer cases.
Researchers involved in the trial said it was too early to report exact numbers of life expectancy for patients receiving pembrolizumab, but experts said the early signs were incredibly positive. Says.
“The data we have seen show that the chances of the cancer coming back are halved if you have this treatment,” Spicer said.
“This is very positive for these patients, who can expect to live much longer as a result. These patients are healing effectively.”
Pembrolizumab is known as a checkpoint inhibitor and helps the immune system find and destroy tumor cells.
Injections every three weeks have already proven to be a highly successful treatment for patients with melanoma, skin cancer, bladder cancer and lymphoma. Experts say the new treatment is likely to become routine care for NHS lung cancer patients. “The data show that pembrolizumab given alongside chemotherapy can reduce the risk of recurrence in all patients with this type of lung cancer,” Spicer said. “This will soon become standard care for the NHS.”
This injection, called pembrolizumab, helps the immune system find hidden cancer cells in the body. Currently, this treatment is only offered to NHS patients with advanced lung cancer whose disease has spread.But thousands more could be provided with treatment in the future
Experts say the next step will be to see if the number of injections of pembrolizumab can be reduced.
“The drug seems to buy people time, but patients still need to come to the hospital regularly for treatment,” said Jyoti Patel, a cancer clinical research expert at Northwestern University in Illinois. “These immunotherapeutic drugs are not without side effects, and they affect the immune system, which can increase the risk of other diseases.
“Future trials should explore whether the phases of treatment can be phased out, so that patients receive lower doses and, as a result, fewer side effects.”
Another challenge is to detect lung cancer early so that this new treatment can be offered to patients. Studies currently show that only about one-fifth of lung cancer cases are detected in the early stages.
The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Heather Wakeley, Stanford University Oncology Chair, spoke at the ASCO conference calling for more research on lung cancer screening. “Without screening, you can’t find patients with early-stage disease,” she said. “It’s important that we continue to make significant efforts to improve testing,” she said.
But experts say the NHS’ lung cancer screening program is already on the horizon.
In Manchester, a ‘lung health check’ is being administered to all smokers and former smokers between the ages of 55 and 74. “This could spread across the NHS,” Professor Spicer said.
If approved by the NHS, pembrolizumab may be used in combination with another drug.
A trial to be presented at tomorrow’s ASCO meeting shows that the immunopotentiating drug osimertinib, developed by UK-based AstraZeneca, significantly extends survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer with a specific genetic mutation called EGFR. is expected to be shown.
Only 15% of lung cancer patients carry the mutation, but experts say the number is likely to increase in the coming years as it is associated with an increase in nonsmoker-related lung cancer cases. We expect it to increase.
Studies have shown that these cases may be related to contamination. Osimertinib is available in the NHS only for patients with EGFR mutations whose disease has spread to other organs.
Experts are also excited about another lung-cancer drug submitted to ASCO. The drug, known as SKB264, is called a ‘warhead’ because it can deliver a powerful ‘payload’ of chemotherapeutic agents that penetrate tumors and attack cancer cells from within.
Medically known as antibody-drug conjugates, highly precise treatments avoid damaging healthy tissue, so doctors can administer larger doses without exacerbating side effects. I mean
A study in 43 patients with advanced lung cancer that recurred after surgery, conducted by Chinese drug developer Cologne, showed that SKB264 reduced the size of lung cancer tumors in about 45% of the participants.
Dr. Heather Wakeley, Dean of Stanford University’s Oncology Department, called for more research on lung cancer screening. “Without screening, you can’t find patients with early-stage disease,” she said. “It’s important that we continue to make significant efforts to improve testing,” she said.
In this group, chemotherapy is effective in only about 20% of patients and lasts less than 4 months.
Patients who responded to SKB264 maintained tumor control for more than nine months. Experts say this means that SKB264 could double the survival of this group of patients.
Experts say nuclear warheads like SKB264 may soon be combined with immunotherapy and chemotherapy to further extend the lives of lung cancer patients.
“Antibody-drug conjugates deliver toxic drugs directly to the tumor,” Spicer said. “Only 20 percent of lung cancer patients can be effectively cured. Antibody-drug conjugates may increase that number.”
