Improving neoadjuvant and perioperative therapy in non-small-cell lung cancer
“Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy, comprising an anti-PD-(L)1 antibody and platinum-doublet chemotherapy, given alone or as part of a perioperative regimen with the addition of adjuvant anti-PD-(L)1 therapy, has become the standard of care for patients with early-stage, resectable non-oncogene-driven non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).”
Lung cancer screening models show variable performance across populations
“In this cohort study, 16 lung cancer risk prediction models demonstrated variation in screening efficiency and sensitivity across racial and ethnic groups, while generally identifying more individuals for screening compared with current guideline-based criteria. Most models underestimated lung cancer risk in non-Hispanic White participants, and all models underestimated risk in non-Hispanic Black participants.”
INSIGHT Trial: De-Escalating Immunotherapy After Lung Cancer pCR
“Clinically, INSIGHT addresses a pressing de-escalation question in early-stage NSCLC care: if positive, the results could establish active surveillance as a viable, lower-toxicity alternative to continued immunotherapy for patients who achieve pCR—potentially sparing many patients from a year of unnecessary treatment and its associated adverse effects.”
When Standard Therapy Is Not Feasible in Stage III Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
“Edgardo Santos, MD, The Oncology Institute, Hollywood, Florida, reviews the evidence supporting concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by durvalumab as the standard of care while explaining how treatment tolerance, radiation feasibility, and comprehensive biomarker testing informed an alternative therapeutic approach. He also highlights the evolving role of molecular profiling, PD-L1 expression, and circulating tumor DNA in guiding personalized treatment decisions and assessing response.”
Cancer’s biggest treatment challenge may be getting solved 250 miles above Earth
“For more than two decades, precision oncology has been promoted as the future of cancer treatment, matching therapies to the unique biology of a patient’s tumor. Yet despite billions invested and hundreds of targeted therapies developed, studies suggest up to 93% of patients ultimately do not benefit from precision-medicine approaches due to drug resistance, delivery challenges, tumor complexity, and the limited number of actionable targets.”
Roche orchestrates phase 3 KRAS lung cancer win over Amgen, BMS
“The open-label Krascendo 1 trial enrolled 338 people with previously treated, KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients who had already tried a KRAS G12C inhibitor or pan-KRAS/RAS inhibitor were excluded from the trial. Participants took either divarasib once daily, Lumakras once daily or Krazati twice daily.”
Optimizing lung cancer diagnosis using improved fungal growth optimizer-based medical image segmentation
“Medical image segmentation is one of the most important processes in computer-aided diagnosis. It plays a critical role in detecting and analyzing diseases since it isolates the region of interest in medical scans.”
Are lung cancer tumors hijacking the nervous system?
“Highlights: Cachexia, a syndrome marked by unwanted weight loss, sickness, and loss of appetite that accompanies and amplifies chronic illness, affects roughly half of all cancer patients and is responsible for a quarter of all cancer deaths. Incoming Salk professor discovers that some lung cancer tumors can induce cachexia by communicating directly with the brain using a lipid signaling molecule—hijacking the nervous system and impacting behavior. Findings suggest that tumors affect the peripheral nervous system and dietary changes could be used to treat cachexia and improve outcomes in lung cancer patients.”
Amphiregulin-mediated EGFR activation drives both intrinsic and acquired resistance to KRAS G12C inhibitors in KRAS G12C–mutant non-small cell lung cancer
“In conclusion, AREG-mediated EGFR activation is a key driver of resistance to KRAS inhibitors in patients with KRAS G12C–mutant NSCLC. Combining EGFR and KRAS inhibition represents a promising strategy to overcome therapeutic resistance and may enhance and prolong clinical benefit in patients.”
State Medicaid Budgetary Implications of New Cancers
“Conclusions: Our results quantify the cost and health care resource utilization burden borne by state Medicaid programs following a new cancer diagnosis. These findings can inform policy makers about the budgetary considerations associated with investing in reducing late-stage cancer diagnoses, such as through early detection and increased access to care.”
Performance of Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Models Across Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States
“These findings suggest that using risk prediction models for lung cancer screening eligibility could yield a better balance of benefits and harms, with smaller differences across racial and ethnic groups. However, further research is needed to optimize prediction models for the diverse population in the United States.”
TP53 Status and Time Toxicity Shape Sequencing Decisions in EGFR-Mutated NSCLC
“Key Takeaways: Frontline intensification in TP53-comutated EGFR L858R disease gains support from TOP, FLAURA2, and MARIPOSA, showing meaningful PFS benefit versus osimertinib, with OS signals still immature. Case-based consensus favored combination systemic therapy for symptomatic bilateral brain metastases, with regimen selection split between osimertinib–platinum/pemetrexed and amivantamab–lazertinib.”
Obesity Promotes Lung Cancer by Suppressing Immune Response, Roswell Park Study Shows
“BUFFALO, N.Y. — A research team led by experts at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has documented new evidence that excess abdominal fat increases the risk of developing non-small cell lung cancer. Published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the findings show that the immune system’s attack on developing tumors is undermined in obese patients, contradicting earlier studies suggesting that patients with a high body mass index (BMI) are at lower risk for the disease.”
Access to blood-based lung cancer screening test raises screening rate in primary care
“Key takeaways: The proportion of patients who received any lung cancer screening was significantly greater in clinics with vs. without FirstLook Lung blood test access. This was also the case for low-dose CT receipt.”
Northwestern Medicine study finds lung transplant dramatically improves survival for patients with terminal lung cancer
“In a study of patients with medically refractory, lung-limited stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (patients with terminal lung cancer confined to the lungs who are out of treatment options), Northwestern Medicine physicians and scientists found that lung transplantation was associated with substantially better early survival than medical management (chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, etc.) alone.”
Osimertinib After Chemoradiotherapy Shows Manageable Safety in NSCLC
“Key Takeaways: A global double-blind phase 3 design randomized 216 patients (2:1) post-CRT to osimertinib 80 mg daily vs placebo, with longer median exposure on osimertinib (24.0 vs 8.3 months). Any-cause AEs occurred in 98% vs 88%, with common events including radiation pneumonitis (48% vs 38%), diarrhea (36% vs 14%), and rash (24% vs 14%).”
Novel technology could aid targeted lung cancer treatment
“Scientists have developed a new method for accurately predicting gene changes that cause lung cancer, without the need for slower, more expensive lab techniques. The technology was able to identify specific genetic changes with high accuracy, offering a potentially faster, more efficient and cheaper testing option than traditional methods.”
AI-powered light scan could speed up targeted lung cancer treatments
“AI is steadily transforming oncology by spotting patterns in vast data that humans might miss, speeding up diagnoses and personalising treatments in ways once unimaginable. Now, Scottish scientists have delivered a breakthrough that could slash waiting times for key lung cancer insights from weeks to minutes. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian developed an AI-assisted technique that predicts epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations directly from untreated tissue samples.”
