Lung Cancer

Spiral computed tomography (CT), a highly sensitive technology that finds early lung cancers, has sparked both renewed interest and controversy in lung cancer screening.

The issue of cancer in the elderly is of growing concern given the aging population. It is a particular issue in lung cancer, where the median age of patients is over 60.

Although significant advances have been made in the systemic therapy of non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with a good performance status (PS), the subgroup of patients with a poor PS has not been studied as well.

Researchers have found that the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 plays a significant role in non-small-cell lung cancer.

New evidenced-based guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) recommend against the use of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for the general screening of lung cancer.

ImClone Systems Incorporated and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced that a phase III study of cetuximab (Erbitux) in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy (vinorelbine plus cisplatin) met its primary endpoint of increasing overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

A phase II study of Antisoma's investigational agent ASA404 in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel showed positive survival results in non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

Lung cancer is one of the most common and deadly malignancies in the United States, with an estimated 213,380 new cases in 2007 and an estimated 160,390 deaths in 2007. Approximately 85% of these patients will be diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and only 10%-20% will have potentially curable disease.

Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRIs) have demonstrated clinical activity in patients with non–small-cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer. EGFRIs are generally well tolerated, but reversible dermatologic toxicities are commonly associated with their use. Limited clinical evidence has characterized these adverse reactions as a class effect. For panitumumab (Vectibix), mild-to-moderate dermatologic toxicities are the most common associated adverse reactions. This report details the Japanese experience in the management of dermatologic toxicities associated with panitumumab use. Treatment selection for skin toxicity in Japan is also detailed, with a flowchart depicting strategies to treat various stages of dermatologic toxicities. Panitumumab was well tolerated in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors, with a safety profile similar to that seen in non-Japanese patients.

Long-term disease stabilization in some patients who had progressed after one or two prior therapies suggests possible activity for the investigational agent enzastaurin (Eli Lilly) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) appears to be declining in frequency. This reduced incidence of SCLC seems to have curtailed interest and investigation as well.

Pretreatment with induction chemotherapy appears to give certain inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who undergo radiation and concurrent chemotherapy (chemoradiation) a small but statistically significant increase in overall, 5-year, and distant-metastasis-free survival, compared with concurrent chemoradiation alone, the standard of care.

Variations in two genes related to inflammation may be a major risk factor for developing lung cancer, according to a team of scientists from the National Cancer Institute and the University of Texas

A MAGE-A3 antigen-specific cancer immunotherapeutic (ASCI) showed very encouraging activity in the postoperative adjuvant treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a multicenter, double-blind phase II European study

The appearance of a rash in cancer patients treated with erlotinib (Tarceva) is strongly associated with longer survival, according to researchers from the drug's developer, OSI Pharmaceuticals

Swiss drug regulators have become the first to approve Novartis' Tasigna (nilotinib) for the treatment of patients with Ph+ chronic myeloid leukemia who are resistant or intolerant to imatinib (Gleevec)

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality, after lung cancer. The overall incidence of breast cancer was increasing until recently, but mortality has declined since 1990, presumably due to earlier detection and better treatments.

A global phase III study is the second to show that adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy extends progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

In an ongoing phase I trial in patients with solid tumors and lymphomas, the small-molecule tumor vascular disrupting agent NPI-2358 (Nereus Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, California) was dose escalated without evidence of dose-limiting toxicity

FDA has granted priority review for GlaxoSmithKline's new drug application (NDA) for Oral Hycamtin (topotecan) capsules for the treatment of relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted, for filing and priority review, the New Drug Application (NDA) for Bristol-Myers Squibb's investigational compound ixabepilone, an epothilone B analog.

Cell Therapeutics, Inc (CTI) announced that data presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held in Chicago on June 1-5, provides independent supportive data validating the potential survival benefit of paclitaxel poliglumex (Xyotax) over standard chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in women whose estrogen levels are in the normal range for premenopausal women.

Although any steps taken to prevent cancer require many years before they influence outcomes, clinical investigators typically do not consider the time lag needed for prevention to elicit a measurable effect on life and health, opting instead to assess mortality in the short term

Brain metastasis can be prevented in advanced small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients by prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in those who respond to chemotherapy

While pharmaceutical companies are actively engaged in the development of new drug treatments for cancer, the number of drugs eventually approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for oncology has declined.