by SWOG Cancer Research Network A majority of cancer patients don’t understand key aspects of the genomic test results they receive as participants in biomarker-driven clinical trials, according to a first-of-its-kind pilot study conducted under the Lung Cancer Master Protocol (Lung-MAP). In a September 9 presentation at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Barcelona,...
Tag: <span>Lung cancer</span>
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The test that could save the life of long-time smokers
by Richard Gunderman, The Conversation A test called CT lung cancer screening could save the lives of tens of thousands of American smokers and former smokers every year, but only only 4% of those eligible are getting it. One such patient, a 58-year-old woman I’ll call Marie, battled cigarette smoking for over three decades before...
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Dacomitinib in advanced lung cancer: Disadvantages outweigh survival advantage
by Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care Since its approval in April 2019, dacomitinib has been available for the first-line treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-activating mutations. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) now examined in an early benefit assessment whether...
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Air pollution can accelerate lung disease as much as a pack a day of cigarettes
by University of Washington Air pollution—especially ozone air pollution which is increasing with climate change—accelerates the progression of emphysema of the lung, according to a new study led by the University of Washington, Columbia University and the University at Buffalo. While previous studies have shown a clear connection of air pollutants with some heart and...
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Metabolic reprogramming of branched-chain amino acid facilitates drug resistance in lung cancer
by Chinese Academy of Sciences Despite the remarkable success of molecular targeted therapy in recent years, the rapid increase of drug resistance is a major obstacle to effective treatment of lung cancer. How do lung cancer cells adapt to targeted therapy? What is the molecular basis of such adaptive behavior? Can this adaptive response be memorized by cancer cells? If so,...
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Study supports optimal threshold for diagnosing COPD
by National Institutes of Health A new study provides evidence to support a simple measurement for diagnosing clinically significant airflow obstruction, the key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. The study found that a 70% ratio of two indicators of lung function proved as or more accurate than other thresholds for...
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Entrectinib gets edge over crizotinib against ROS1+ lung cancer
by Garth Sundem, CU Anschutz Medical Campus Crizotinib and entrectinib are both active against ROS1+ non-small cell lung cancer. But which is best? The answer seems easy: Just compare the drugs’ clinical trial results. However, not all trials are created equal, and these differences in trial designs can lead to irrelevant comparisons—like comparing athletes’ running times without noting that one ran a kilometer while...
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Immunotherapy improves five-year survival rate of people with advanced lung cancer
by Denise Heady, University of California, Los Angeles In a study led by UCLA investigators, treatment with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab helped more than 15 percent of people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer live for at least five years—and 25 percent of patients whose tumor cells had a specific protein lived at least that...
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After 2 Years, Immunotherapy Shows Doubled Median Survival Time for Advanced Lung Cancer Patients
A large, randomized immunotherapy clinical trial continues to show improved overall survival and progression-free survival in advanced lung cancer patients, researchers reported at this year’s American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting. The update on the KEYNOTE-189 trial provides nearly two years data on use of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. “The primary takeaway is that we saw continued benefit, even with...
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Lung cancer under-recognized in people who have never smoked
A group of respiratory medicine and public health experts are calling for lung cancer in never-smokers to be given greater recognition. Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, they say that lung cancer in people who have never smoked is under recognized and presents a diagnostic challenge, particularly for GPs seeking to balance over-investigation with early diagnosis...