LUNG CANCER

A recent study demonstrated that specimens from patients with lung cancer under the age of 50 years appear to be enriched with molecular alterations that are amenable to targeted treatment.

There are no differences in lung cancer incidence or mortality among women of different ethnic groups when adjusted for age, smoking, and other factors, according to an article recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Non-small cell lung cancer with mutations in the KRAS gene may be associated with reduced activity of a key endocytic pathway and a mesenchymal phenotype, which may cause metastases.

Rex Chin-Wei Yung, MD, FCCP, discusses the value of teamwork in oncology, specifically lung cancer, and the importance of pulmonologists.

The FDA has approved a new treatment consisting of a non-alcohol formulation of docetaxel in patients with breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and head and neck cancer.

Afatinib utilized as a frontline treatment reduced risk of progression or death by 27%, as compared to gefitinib in patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. according to a recent phase IIb trial.

The FDA has assigned a breakthrough therapy status to the third-generation EGFR TKI BI-1482694 as a possible treatment for patients with T790M-positive non

The review period for rociletinib for EGFR T790M-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been extended by the FDA by 3 months. The extension allows ample time to review additional data submitted by the drug's developer, Clovis Oncology.

Alectinib has been granted accelerated approval by the FDA in patients with metastatic ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following progression on crizotinib.

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, discusses ibrutinib and idelalisib as treatments for non-small cell lung cancer. Wierda says that as it currenlty stands, ibrutinib is approved only for patients with NSCLC with a 17p deletion untreated and idelalisib is only approved for patients with untreated NSCLC.

The FDA has granted a priority review for a supplemental new drug application for crizotinib (Xalkori). The indication is for patients with ROS1-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Garon says the likely place to start when looking into combination therapies are cytotoxic chemotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, given these treatments are currently approved in lung cancer.

Ilaria Muller, PhD student, Cardiff University, on a possible common antigen between thyroid cancer and breast cancer.

Abraham Chachoua, MD, associate professor of Oncology, NYU Langone Medical Center, talks about the present use of anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 becoming the standard second-line treatment in lung cancer.

A combination of the anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab with the anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody tremelimumab showed improved tumor response in patients with advanced NSCLC.

The PD-1 inhibitors pembrolizumab and nivolumab should be considered for all patients with advanced NSCLC, said Roman Perez-Soler, MD.

Necitumumab (Portrazza) combined with gemcitabine and cisplatin has been approved by the FDA for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic squamous NSCLC.

Dr. Suresh Ramalingam on sequencing immune checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy in NSCLC treatment. He adds that a new class of agents can be given in conjunction with immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as IDO inhibitors.

Roman Perez-Soler, MD, talks about NSCLC tumors becoming resistance to chemotherapy and first-line treatment.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that an EGFR inhibitor, erlotinib, was well tolerated in combination with whole-brain radiation therapy for patients with brain metastases from NSCLC.

Immunotherapy is fast becoming the new standard of care for non-small-cell lung cancer alongside developing research in the field.

Dr Rolf A. Stahel, MD, and Dr Thomas E. Stinchcombe, MD, weigh in on treating patients with NSCLC.

A paper presenting the results of a retrospective study of patients with ALK-rearranged NSCLC hypothesized that prognosis for patients with NSCLC and brain metastases could be further identified through molecular subtyping.

Chandra P. Belani, MD, deputy director, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Miriam Beckner Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, talks about how immunotherapies targeting PD-L1 and PD-1 are showing activity in lung cancer.

Researchers are now searching for chemical or genetic biomarkers that could be used to identify lung cancer patients more likely to develop brain metastases.