Lung Cancer

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality, accounting for over 160,000 deaths in the United States and 1.18 million deaths worldwide each year.[1,2] Though tobacco smoking remains the most strongly associated risk factor for the development of lung cancer, 10% to 15% of lung cancer patients in the United States lack any history of tobacco use.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, responsible for over a million deaths annually. In the United States in 2009, it is estimated that 219,440 cases will be diagnosed and 159,390 deaths will be attributable to lung cancer.[1] The vast majority of these deaths are cigarette-smoking associated. However, an estimated 10% to 15% of these deaths will occur in “never-smokers.”

CHICAGO-FDG-PET imaging of non-small-cell lung cancer patients prior to receiving radiation therapy should not be the basis for determining areas that may benefit from higher doses of radiation, according to research out of Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

PET scanning with FDG has proved its mettle as a way to judge tumor response to treatment. Now Australian researchers are going one step further and working with another radiotracer, which they have determined can monitor the response of non-small-cell lung cancer and normal tissue changes during radical chemoradiotherapy.

Recent studies have shed new light on the role of histology in predicting sensitivity to therapeutic agents such as pemetrexed (Alimta) or bevacizumab (Avastin). Whereas during the past 30 years, the only useful histologic consideration was the absence or presence of a “non” before “small-cell lung cancer,” two US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs now have histologic restrictions.

More than 60 years ago, Karnofsky and colleagues reported promising results with the introduction of nitrogen mustard, the prototype of alkylating agents, for the treatment of lung cancer.[1] Subsequent milestones in the development of lung cancer chemotherapy included the use of platinum agents in the 1970s and 1980s, while the 1990s brought several active agents that could be combined with platinum, namely the taxanes, gemcitabine (Gemzar), and vinorelbine.

Since the publication of a meta-analysis in 1995 that demonstrated a modest survival benefit compared to best supportive care, platinum-based chemotherapy became the cornerstone of therapy in the first-line setting in advanced-stage non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for patients with good performance status.[1] A recent meta-analysis of 16 randomized trials including 2,714 patients demonstrated an advantage of chemotherapy over best supportive care with an absolute improvement in survival of 9% at 12 months.[2]

CHICAGO-In lung cancer patients, stereotactic body radiation therapy achieved a 98% local control rate that persisted over three years in those who were too frail with comorbidities to undergo surgery, according to research presented at ASTRO 2009.

SAN FRANCISCO-Studies have identified specific volatile organic compounds in the breath of lung cancer patients, but the origin of those compounds is still ambiguous: Are they from the tumor itself, the tumor micro-environment, or a reaction to the tumor by the human body?

The following company announcements were made at the 2009 World Conference on Lung Cancer in San Francisco.

Low tumor levels of the MSH2 protein predict long-term response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with resected non-small-cell lung cancer, according to an analysis from the International Adjuvant Lung Trial.

Researchers in Seoul, Korea, found early-phase contrast-enhanced CT useful for differentiating pulmonary metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma and primary lung cancer. They specifically measured the attenuations of pulmonary nodules on the CT scans.

SAN FRANCISCO-Chemotherapy before surgery for early-stage, non-small-cell lung cancer led to moderately higher survival rates than surgery alone, but not enough to reach statistical significance, according to follow-up analysis of the European NATCH trial. However, the researchers did note that patients were more likely to finish the prescribed chemotherapy course when treatment was given preoperatively.

SAN FRANCISCO-Th e new international standards for lung cancer staging and how they pertain to imaging sent sparks flying during a plenary session at the 2009 World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Despite all of its theoretical advantages, the use of induction chemotherapy is still considered experimental in the management of early-stage resectable NSCLC.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men and women in the United States, and is the leading cause of cancer death.Over 160,000 individuals died as a result of lung cancer in 2008.[1] This number amounted to more than the number of deaths from colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. The majority of lung cancer cases are non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the poor outcomes are attributed to the high rate of metastases associated with this disease.

The treatment of early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has undergone a paradigm shift recently with the addition of systemic therapy to local therapy. The use of cisplatin-based chemotherapy following surgery is now a standard approach for patients with stage II–IIIA disease.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved pemetrexed (Alimta), the first drug available for maintenance therapy of advanced or metastatic lung cancer. Pemetrexed disrupts metabolic processes that are dependent on the B-vitamin folate, a necessary ingredient for cell replication.

Interim results from an open-label, phase II trial evaluating sunitinib malate (Sutent) showed progression free survival of 9.9 weeks in non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with irradiated brain metastases, which occur in more than one-quarter of all NSCLC patients. These data were presented at the 13th Annual World Conference of Lung Cancer, held July 31–­August 4, 2009, in San Francisco.

ORLANDO-Low-dose CT lung cancer screening carries a high burden of false-positive results after only two rounds of testing, according to research by NIH investigators.

SAN FRANCISCO-Non-small-cell lung cancer patients with irradiated brain metastases responded favorably to treatment with sunitinib malate (Sutent), according to interim results presented at the 2009 World Conference on Lung Cancer.

SAN FRANCISCO-Albumin-bound nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) with carboplatin showed antitumor activity against squamous and nonsquamous NSCLC, according to research presented at the 2009 World Conference on Lung Cancer (abstracts PD3.4.1 and PD3.3.4).

Performing surgery following concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy for patients with stage IIIA (N2) non-small-cell lung cancer does not lead to better overall survival rates than chemotherapy and radiotherapy alone, according to an RTOG trial (The Lancet online, July 27, 2009).

The addition of zoledronic acid (Zometa) increases overall survival in lung cancer patients with bone metastases, according to researchers at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and G. Papanikolaou Hospital in Greece.

SAN FRANCISCO–Maintenance therapy with erlotinib (Tarceva) in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer following chemotherapy provided a statistically significant improvement in survival, according to results from the SATURN trial.

ORLANDO-Results of a pivotal trial presented at ASCO 2009 boosted the concept of maintenance chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, but not everyone is ready to wholeheartedly embrace the idea.

AstraZeneca announced the company has submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA for an investigational drug, vandetanib ( Zactima) 100 mg, for use in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced non–small-cell lung cancer in patients previously treated with one prior anticancer therapy.

Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany has entered into an agreement with the UK’s DxS to provide a companion diagnostic test kit for Boehringer Ingelheim’s compound BIBW 2992 (Tovok) to identify EGFR mutations of in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

ORLANDO-Results from an international phase III trial in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer could change the standard of care, according to the lead investigator.

An international, multi-institutional study presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held May 29–June 2 in Orlando, Fla, found that use of pemetrexed (Alimta) as maintenance therapy following standard treatment improves overall survival for patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC); the study also further confirmed that this benefit is primarily limited to those with the nonsquamous subtype (abstract CRA8000).