ASCO recently published its 15th annual report on Clinical Cancer Advances in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The report details the advances made in clinical research and highlights key areas of research progress that improves cancer outcomes. Several of these key advances are from lung cancer research. Read below for the details:

‘Aggressive’ treatment leads to extended survival for select patients with advance NSCLC

The use of “local consolidative therapy” radiation after surgery may provide up to three times as much progression-free survival for patients versus those who undergo standard maintenance or observational treatment.

First new standard-of-care treatment FDA approved for SCLC made since the 1980s

In March 2019, atezolizumab (Tecentriq) was FDA approved for first-line treatment of extensive-stage SCLC (in combination with chemotherapy). This treatment approval is the second approved treatment for this aggressive type of lung cancer.

New standard-of-care treatments made for advanced non-squamous NSCLC

Durvalumab and Pembrolizumab was shown in clinical trials to extend overall survival for advanced non-squamous NSCLC, a lung cancer diagnosis that occurs in 20-30% of all lung cancers. Providing better standard treatment options for such a commonly occurring disease is critical.

As progress in lung cancer research continues to accelerate, we are looking forward to this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting and hearing updates from many of LCRF’s talented investigators and Scientific Advisory Board members.