Lung Cancer

Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. with more than 200,000 Americans diagnosed with the disease annually. Due largely to aggressive anti-smoking initiatives, annual new U.S. cases have dropped 14 percent since the mid-1990s.

While once classified by appearance under a microscope, lung cancer tumors can now be treated with targeted drugs based on their genetic characteristics. Research has also shown CT scanning can reduce cancer deaths among heavy smokers by catching more cases early. Growing evidence also suggests that immunotherapy may offer hope for future advances in treating advanced lung cancer.

Long-term lung cancer survival, while low, has edged upward in recent decades and greater improvements are possible with continued research investment and increased use of screening advances.

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2020

Post-Surgery Osimertinib Delays Recurrence of Localized NSCLC 

Post-Surgery Osimertinib Delays Recurrence of Localized NSCLC 

Platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery has been the recommended treatment for patients with stage II-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), though this treatment only reduces risk of recurrence or death by around 16% compared with surgery alone. For patients with tumors that have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, the phase III ADAURA trial found that giving the EGFR-targeted drug osimertinib to patients following surgery (with or without post-operative platinum-based chemotherapy) improved 24-month disease-free survival to about 90%, compared to 44% among patients who received the same surgery and chemotherapy regimen plus placebo. Not only did the improvement in disease-free survival seen in this study led to FDA approval, it is considered practice-changing for patients with resected, early-stage EGFR-mutation-positive NSCLC.  

2018

Immunotherapy/Chemotherapy Combination Approved for Extensive SCLC

Immunotherapy/Chemotherapy Combination Approved for Extensive SCLC

The 2019 FDA approval of the immunotherapy atezolizumab in combination with chemotherapy represents a major advance in the treatment of extensive small cell lung cancer. The approval was based on the results of the IMpower 133 study, which showed significantly longer survival with the addition of atezolizumab to carboplatin and etoposide chemotherapy. The combination therapy has become the standard of care for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer in the United States. 

 

Addition of a Checkpoint Inhibitor to Standard First-line Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Metastatic Non-Squamous NSCLC

Addition of a Checkpoint Inhibitor to Standard First-line Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Metastatic Non-Squamous NSCLC

Two large randomized trials show that the addition of a checkpoint inhibitor to standard chemotherapy in metastatic non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without sensitizing EGFR or ALK mutations can significantly improve survival for patients with this disease. The Impower 150 trial adds checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to a standard treatment regimen, and KEYNOTE-189 adds pembrolizumab (Keytruda). Progression-free and overall survival are significantly improved with the addition of the checkpoint inhibitors. Together these trials broaden the population of patients that can be considered to receive first-line checkpoint inhibitor therapy to include essentially all patients with metastatic non-squamous NSCLC.

2016

Pembrolizumab extends NSCLC survival, with fewer side effects

Pembrolizumab extends NSCLC survival, with fewer side effects

Studies find that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) improves survival and causes fewer side effects than standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high levels of PD-L1 protein in the tumor. These trials include patients who were newly diagnosed and previously treated with other therapies, leading the FDA to approve the drug for both populations of patients. These approvals establish a new treatment paradigm for this type of lung cancer, with immunotherapy becoming the preferred treatment over chemotherapy regimens for PD-L1-positive cancers. 

2015

Three immunotherapies introduced for most common type of lung cancer

Three immunotherapies introduced for most common type of lung cancer

Three new immunotherapies are approved by the FDA for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that worsened during or following chemotherapy. In clinical trials, the three drugs, nivolumab (Opdivo), atezolizumab (Tecentriq), and pembrolizumab (Keytruda), were each shown to extend survival and cause fewer severe side effects than chemotherapy. These treatments target the so-called immune checkpoint proteins PD-1 and PD-L1, respectively, helping the immune system fight cancer.

2010

Drug aimed at a newly identified target causes dramatic tumor shrinkages

Drug aimed at a newly identified target causes dramatic tumor shrinkages

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The drug crizotinib (Xalkori), which targets the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) pathway, is shown to cause tumor shrinkage in a high percentage of patients whose tumors had an abnormality in the ALK gene. This ALK gene mutation only occurs in about 4 percent of lung cancers, and is more common in patients who never smoked. The development of crizotinib exemplifies the future of lung cancer therapy, in which tumors will be analyzed for their molecular make-up and then treated based on those findings.

In 2011, the drug is approved for patients with advanced lung cancer whose tumors harbor the ALK gene mutation based on longer-term data.

New lung cancer staging system is adopted

New lung cancer staging system is adopted

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Union for International Cancer Control issue new guidance on the system used by doctors to assess, or "stage," lung cancer, incorporating new information from clinical trials involving more than 5,000 patients. These revisions provide physicians with a better ability to classify the extent of the cancer in patients with both small cell and non-small cell lung cancer, and to more accurately determine their prognosis and select the best combination of treatments for each patient.

Adding palliative care to standard chemotherapy improves survival for advanced lung cancer patients

Adding palliative care to standard chemotherapy improves survival for advanced lung cancer patients

A head-to-head trial shows that patients who received standard chemotherapy along with palliative care (specialized treatment to address the symptoms of cancer, but not treat the disease) immediately after their diagnosis with advanced lung cancer lived three months longer and had a higher quality of life than patients who had chemotherapy alone. Patients who received the combination approach were also less likely to undergo aggressive therapy at the end of life, such as resuscitation. The results demonstrate the potential for palliative care to no only improve quality of life, but to extend patients' lives as well.

CT scanning reduces lung cancer deaths among heavy smokers

CT scanning reduces lung cancer deaths among heavy smokers

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Results from a large clinical trial show that annual screening with low-dose spiral CT (LDCT) scans reduces the risk of lung cancer death by 20 percent, compared to annual chest X-rays, in current and former heavy smokers.

The National Lung Screening Trial, funded by the National Cancer Institute, compared LDCT scanning to standard chest X-rays in this group of people at high risk for developing lung cancer. This finding marks the first-ever lung cancer screening approach that has been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality. The debate about the appropriate use of LDCT screening for lung cancer among the general population, however, continues.

Older patients should be considered for the same aggressive chemotherapy as younger patients

Older patients should be considered for the same aggressive chemotherapy as younger patients

Older patients have traditionally received less aggressive therapy than younger patients, out of concern that they would not be able to handle the side effects. But a large study shows that a combination of two commonly used chemotherapy drugs, paclitaxel (Taxol) and carboplatin (Paraplatin, Paraplat), significantly increased survival in patients age 70 or older with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, compared to the standard single-drug therapy used among older patients. The findings suggest that older patients should be considered for the same aggressive combination therapy as younger patients.

2009

Maintenance therapy improves survival for advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Maintenance therapy improves survival for advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Large clinical trials show that patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who continued to receive drug therapy after completing their initial chemotherapy regimen lived longer than patients who did not receive such therapy. In separate studies, this finding is shown with the chemotherapy drug, pemetrexed (Alimta) and with the targeted therapy erlotinib (Tarceva). Based on this research, the FDA ultimately approves these agents for this use.

2008

Circulating tumor cells in the blood can help track treatment response in select patients

Circulating tumor cells in the blood can help track treatment response in select patients

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Recent advances in lab technologies have made it possible to detect cancer cells that have broken free of the tumor, called circulating tumor cells, using a simple blood sample. In a new study, researchers show that tracking the number of these circulating tumor cells is useful for assessing how well a patient with non-small cell lung cancer is responding to therapy.

2005

New project to map lung cancer genome

New project to map lung cancer genome

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Lung cancer is selected as one of three cancers to be studied in the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Genome Atlas Project. Using modern gene-mapping technology, the project aims to develop a comprehensive atlas of the genetic abnormalities in lung cancer to deepen understanding of the genetic pathways involved in the disease's development and growth. Researchers hope this information will lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets that can guide drug development.

Anti-angiogenic drug bevacizumab extends survival for advanced lung cancer

Anti-angiogenic drug bevacizumab extends survival for advanced lung cancer

A major study shows that adding the targeted drug bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard chemotherapy extends survival compared to chemotherapy alone for select patients with advanced lung cancer. In 2006, the FDA approves bevacizumab in combination with standard chemotherapy as an initial therapy for inoperable, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer that has spread within or outside the lungs, or that has recurred. Bevacizumab is the first of a new generation of targeted drugs called "anti-angiogenics," which attack cancer by blocking the tumor's ability to develop the blood vessels it needs to grow.

2004

Adjuvant therapy proven effective in lung cancer

Adjuvant therapy proven effective in lung cancer

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In findings that quickly change the standard of care, clinical trials show that giving chemotherapy after surgery dramatically improves survival for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease. Previously, chemotherapy was considered to be largely ineffective for lung cancer. These study results demonstrate that adjuvant chemotherapy could have an equal or greater impact on survival in lung cancer as it does in breast or colon cancer.

FDA approves second targeted drug, erlotinib, for non-small cell lung cancer

FDA approves second targeted drug, erlotinib, for non-small cell lung cancer

Erlotinib (Tarceva) is approved for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer that has worsened after at least one regimen of chemotherapy. The approval is backed by data showing that erlotinib improves survival by two months, compared to placebo. A follow-up analysis shows that erlotinib also improves patients' quality of life, reducing pain and allowing better physical function. Erlotinib is administered in pill form – a convenient alternative to traditional chemotherapy, which is generally administered intravenously in a doctor's office or hospital.

Studies show that specific EGFR mutations are associated with response to gefitinib

Studies show that specific EGFR mutations are associated with response to gefitinib

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A series of major studies shows that lung cancer tumors with specific mutations of the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) protein are highly responsive to EGFR-targeted drugs. EGFR is an important signaling pathway that stimulates cancer cell division, and these findings provide critical information for identifying a subset of patients most likely to respond to gefitinib (Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva). The relevant mutations are found most commonly in lung cancer patients without a significant smoking history.

2003

First targeted drug approved for non-small cell lung cancer

First targeted drug approved for non-small cell lung cancer

The FDA approves the first targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer, gefitinib (Iressa), following studies showing it shrinks tumors in some patients with advanced cancer that progresses despite other therapies. Gefitinib targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein on cell surfaces that drives lung cancer growth and spread. Use of gefitinib is restricted by the FDA in 2005 to patients who had already benefited from the drug or were receiving it through a clinical trial, after data from larger trials show gefitinib therapy did not extend patients' lives. However, later research suggests that gefitinib has value as a first-line treatment, and is more effective than chemotherapy in patients whose tumors carry an EGFR mutation.

2000

Second round of chemotherapy boosts survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Second round of chemotherapy boosts survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Studies report that patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer that worsens after prior treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy (such as cisplatin or carboplatin) live significantly longer when they receive additional docetaxel (Taxotere) chemotherapy than when they receive only supportive care (treatment to ease their cancer-related symptoms, but not to fight their disease). These are the first data to show a survival benefit from administering a second round of chemotherapy to patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Study links household radon exposure to lung cancer

Study links household radon exposure to lung cancer

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The Iowa Radon Lung Cancer Study demonstrates that ongoing exposure to residential radon – a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can emerge through basements and crawl spaces – is associated with increased risk of lung cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency now estimates that more than 20,000 lung cancer cases in the U.S. are due to long-term radon exposure in the home. Since the study, radon inspections have become a routine part of homeownership, promising to reduce the future burden of the disease.