LUNG CANCER

Adding necitumumab to standard of care with gemcitabine-cisplatin improves survival compared with chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment in patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of squamous histology.

Luiz H. Araujo, MD, medical oncologist, Corporate Cancer Foundation fellow, Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, discusses the discovery of oncogenic ARAF as a new driver for lung cancer.

David Spigel, MD, director, Lung Cancer Research Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, provides an update on research into MPDL3280A for the treatment of patients with lung cancer.

The third-generation EGFR inhibitor CO-1686 continues to demonstrate promising activity in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who developed resistance after prior treatment with an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).

Adding the VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) to standard docectaxel improved overall survival (OS) by 1.4 months versus docetaxel alone in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, a professor of medical oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, discusses data presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting examining EGFR inhibitors for lung cancer.

Gregory J. Riely, MD, PhD, vice chair, Clinical Trials Office, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the impact of the stigma of cigarette smoking on lung cancer research.

The EGFR inhibitor CO-1686 has received a breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA for its potential as a treatment for patients with metastatic T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have received at least one prior line of EGFR-targeted therapy.

Todd Demmy, MD, clinical chair, Department of Thoracic Surgery, professor of oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, describes lung suffusion.

In December 2013, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that asymptomatic, high-risk individuals receive annual screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT).

The highly selective EGFR inhibitor AZD9291 demonstrated an ORR of 64% without inducing dose-limiting toxicities in patients with metastatic NSCLC who harbor an acquired EGFR T790M resistance mutation.

Despite initial clinical benefit of erlotinib and geftinib, overall efficacy of these agents is limited by emergence of drug-resistance mutations, including the gatekeeper T790M mutation.

Balazs Halmos, MD, section chief of Thoracic Oncology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, discusses the variety of immune checkpoint inhibitors that are currently being explored as treatments for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) updates its guidelines several times annually to incorporate the most recent advances in screening, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with cancer.

The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to ceritinib (Zykadia; LDK378) as a treatment for patients with ALK-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following treatment with crizotinib.

Gregory J. Riely, MD, PhD, vice chair, Clinical Trials Office, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses treatment considerations for older patients with lung cancer.

Balazs Halmos, MD, section chief of Thoracic Oncology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, discusses the implication of the IPASS study.

PD-L1 levels adequately predict response and clinical outcomes for PD-1 inhibitor MK-3475 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma.

Thomas J. Lynch, MD, Yale Cancer Center, discusses actionable mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

CO-1686 has demonstrated promising activity without producing many of the side effects traditionally associated with the class of drugs in patients with T790M-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Todd Demmy, MD, clinical chair, Department of Thoracic Surgery, professor of oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, discusses photodynamic therapy for the treatment of mesothelioma.

The large phase III MAGRIT study investigating the MAGE-A3-specific vaccine GSK1572932A for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will be completely halted following an interim analysis that demonstrated a lack of benefit.

The MAGE-A3-specific immunotherapeutic GSK1572932A failed to significantly extend disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with resected nonmetastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who tested negative for a specific gene expression signature.

While the concept of cancer-specific immunotherapy is not new, it recently has been proven feasible as a rational treatment for patients with some of the most challenging and difficult malignancies.

Balazs Halmos, MD, section chief of Thoracic Oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, discusses the future of immunotherapy treatments.