FDA Approves Genentech’s Tecentriq Plus Lurbinectedin as First-Line Maintenance Therapy for Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer
“Combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 46% and risk of death by 27% in pivotal Phase III IMforte study. First and only combination therapy for the first-line maintenance treatment of ES-SCLC, which is critical to help address the high rate of relapse in ES-SCLC. Regimen recommended in National Comprehensive Cancer Network® Guidelines for SCLC*”
Pfizer Reaches Landmark Agreement with U.S. Government to Lower Drug Costs for American Patients
“NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced a historic agreement with the Trump Administration that will ensure U.S. patients pay lower prices for their prescription medicines while strengthening America’s role as the global leader in biopharmaceutical innovation. In response to the four points covered in the President’s July 31st letter, Pfizer has voluntarily agreed to implement measures designed to ensure Americans receive comparable drug prices to those available in other developed countries and pricing newly launched medicines at parity with other key developed markets. Pfizer will also participate in a direct purchasing platform, TrumpRx.gov, that will allow American patients to purchase medicines from Pfizer at a significant discount. The large majority of the Company’s primary care treatments and some select specialty brands will be offered at savings that will range as high as 85% and on average 50%.”
Impact of a Proactive Patient Assistance Program for Diverse Ambulatory Oncology Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study
“Conclusion: A proactive patient financial assistance program can reduce financial distress, especially for those residing in high and medium-high SVI counties. Leveraging the expertise of a third party helps mitigate financial toxicity in the short term and can help drive more equitable cancer outcomes. The study is unique as it represents a diverse patient population that includes 10% Black/African American, 39% Hispanic/Latino, and a population at high risk for financial toxicity, given that 96% of AC patients reside in high or medium-high SVI counties.”
Sunvozertinib Exhibits Favorable Responses in EGFR-Mutated NSCLC
“Sunvozertinib (Zegfrovy) exhibited robust confirmed objective response rates (ORRs) among patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations following treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy, according to results from the phase 2 WU-KONG1B trial (NCT03974022) published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.”
Model Incorporates Novel Therapies, Inflammatory/Nutrition Markers for Survival Estimates for Lung Cancer with Bone Mets
“The currently available survival models for patients with lung cancer and bone metastases were developed in the era of chemotherapy and do not accurately reflect the survival seen with targeted therapies and immunotherapy, nor do they incorporate inflammatory and nutritional markers that are useful for cancer survival assessment.”
The impact of systemic inflammatory markers on EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer
“Conclusion: Inflammation could be one of the pathogenesis of both NSCLC and EGFRm lung cancer as we demonstrated in our pilot study. STAT3 is a potentially inflammatory-predictive biomarkers. Larger cohort is needed.”
Real-World Outcomes in Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase–Positive Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer in Argentina: A Multicenter Retrospective Study (GAOT-ALK001)
“Conclusion: This real-world study describes outcomes and treatment patterns among patients with ALKp in Argentina. It highlights disparities in access to optimal therapies and reinforces the need for equitable access to new-generation ALK inhibitors to improve clinical outcomes.”
Nearly $500K NIH grant to help UD researchers explore lung cancer detection, treatment
“The National Institutes of Health has awarded nearly a half-million dollars to two University of Dayton researchers exploring strategies for the detection and potential treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. The project led by Shawn Swavey, professor of chemistry, and Kristen Krupa, chair of UD’s department of chemical and materials engineering, will focus on developing fluorescent imaging tools to better understand how stress inside cancer cells can be used to detect and potentially destroy tumors.”
Single Dose of Radiation as Effective as 5-Week Course for Lung Cancer: Roswell Park Shares Results at ASTRO
“Research from a team of radiation oncology experts at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has been selected as one of the “most clinically relevant” presentations at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), which continues through Oct. 1, 2025, in San Francisco. The study reports the results of a clinical trial at Roswell Park demonstrating that a single dose of highly precise radiation delivered post-operatively to patients with non-small cell lung cancer provides the same local disease control as the traditional five-week course of radiation — but is less toxic, causing fewer side effects.”
Twice-Daily Chemoradiotherapy Boosts Survival in Limited-Stage SCLC
“Across 8 trials including approximately 3000 patients, Gui, resident physician in the Department of Radiation Medicine at Northwell Health Cancer Institute, noted that survival improved with a twice-daily radiotherapy schedule, even when combining CRT with immunotherapy. Furthermore, there appeared to be no differences in high-grade toxicities of interest when comparing the twice-daily and once-daily regimens.”
Radiation Shows Similar 10-Year Outcomes Vs Surgery in Early-Stage NSCLC
“Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) yielded no significant differences in outcomes such as overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival, and recurrence-free survival (RFS) vs video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection (VATS L-MLND) among those with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a presentation on 10-year data from the revised phase 2 STARS trial (NCT02357992) at the 2025 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting.”
Updated ASCO Guidelines for Treating Stage IV Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
“In stage IV NSCLC, biomarker testing should now drive nearly every first-line decision.”
Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events and ICI Therapy for Lung Cancer
“Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy was associated with a greater frequency of certain major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), such as myocarditis and pericarditis, in patients with primary lung cancer identified in a nationwide database in Japan. These study results were reported in the journal The Oncologist.”
Drug candidate blocks lung cancer growth without harming healthy cells
“In a study led by Nadav Wallis, a Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Prof. Joel K. Yisraeli of the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, researchers identified a small molecule called AVJ16 that shows remarkable potential in shutting down the growth of lung tumors. Published in Oncogene, the study highlights how AVJ16 specifically blocks a cancer-driving protein known as IGF2BP1, a molecule found in many aggressive tumors but absent in healthy adult tissue.”
World-first test could speed lung cancer diagnosis by hunting for ‘zombie cells’ in urine
“The new tool, which uses an injectable sensor to test urine samples, aims to help doctors identify the disease before it spreads.”
Durvalumab, carboplatin, and etoposide in patients who are treatment-naive with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer and poor performance status (NEJ045A): a single-arm phase 2 trial
“Interpretation: Durvalumab, carboplatin, and etoposide showed tolerability and promising efficacy as a first-line treatment for patients with untreated extensive-stage SCLC with poor performance status, supporting the integration of immune checkpoint inhibitors in this therapeutically challenging population.”
