Lung Cancer

NEW YORK-A man wanted to know why his chest x-ray was normal 4 months before he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. A woman wanted to know how her mother could have negative tumor markers and seven brain metastases at the same time.

Elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with vinorelbine tartrate (Navelbine) injection enjoy improved survival over those receiving best supportive care, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The following consensus statement was developed by over 30 researchers meeting in Varese, Italy, in December 1998.

NAPLES-Nearly one-third of the estimated 144,000 new non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients diagnosed in the United States each year are over the age of 65, and these patients often do not have access to the range of treatment options available to younger patients. Platinum-based therapy is often avoided due to concerns about tolerability.

A cooperative national clinical trial has produced the first major treatment advance in years for small-cell lung cancer. The study, which was published in the February 1999 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, used two treatments of radiation daily, combined with chemotherapy, compared to the usual practice of delivering one radiation dose per day. Specifically, the protocol covered small-cell lung cancer limited to one-half of the chest area.

RESTON, Virginia-A new national clinical study known as LAMP (locally advanced multimodality protocol) will help evaluate the best manner in which to give patients radiation and chemotherapy to treat locally advanced, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The trial, conducted by the American College of Radiology (ACR), is using the chemotherapy agents paclitaxel (Taxol) and carboplatin (Paraplatin).

NEW YORK-Preliminary data presented at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XVI suggest that the toposiomerase I inhibitor irinotecan (Camptosar) in combination with other chemotherapy agents may be effective in multiple tumor types, including advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and advanced esophageal cancer.

HOUSTON-There are currently 581 clinical trials underway at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, John Mendelsohn, MD, the Center’s president, said at a seminar held in conjunction with the opening of the Center’s new Alkek Hospital .

PHILADELPHIA-SmithKline Beecham’s topoisomerase I inhibitor Hycamtin (topotecan HCl for injection) has received FDA approval for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) after failure of first-line chemotherapy. The agent was previously approved for use in ovarian cancer after failure of initial or subsequent chemotherapy.

ATHENS-Patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who receive paclitaxel (Taxol) together with best supportive care survive significantly longer than those managed with best supportive care alone, according to results from a phase III, randomized trial conducted at six sites in the United Kingdom and Canada, and presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) will sponsor phase III trials to test the efficacy of AE-941/Neovastat, an angiogenesis inhibitor developed by AEterna Laboratories Inc., a Canadian biotechnology corporation, in the treatment of cancer.

NEW YORK-The availability of new therapeutic options are focusing more attention on lung cancer, a disease for which advances have been slow in coming, said Ronald Blum, MD, director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center and chief of oncology, St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center, New York City. He discussed these advances during a Cancer Care, Inc., teleconference for patients.

Surgical excision not only is the most accurate method of evaluating a solitary pulmonary nodule, it is also the most cost effective, said Stephen C. Yang, md, Johns Hopkins assistant professor of surgery at the 1998 meeting of The American

DETROIT--A regimen combining vinorelbine (Navelbine) with cisplatin (Platinol) improved survival in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) over that achieved with cisplatin alone, said Antoinette Wozniak, MD, associate professor of clinical oncology, Wayne State University Medical School, Karmanos Cancer Institute.

INDIANAPOLIS--Eli Lilly and Company’s Gemzar (gemcitabine) has received FDA approval for use as first-line treatment of inoperable, locally advanced, or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in combination with cisplatin (Platinol). The agent was previously approved as first-line, single-agent therapy of locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer

BETHESDA, Md--A Food and Drug Administration panel has urged expanding the use of Photofrin (porfimer sodium, QLT PhotoTherapeutics) in lung cancer. In a unanimous vote, the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended that the FDA approve the photodynamic therapy (PDT) for reduction of obstruction and palliation of symptoms in patients with completely or partially obstructing endobronchial non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

A new survey of more than 11,000 Americans reveals widespread ignorance about lung cancer, the nation’s leading cancer killer.

New studies examining chemotherapy regimens for elderly patients with breast and lung cancer and data showing significant underrepresentation of the elderly in major clinical trials were discussed at a press conference at the 34th Annual Meeting of

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended the approval of topotecan hydrochloride for injection (Hycamtin) for the second-line treatment of sensitive small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

During the 1980s, platinum-based regimens were yielding response rates typically less than 25%, median survival durations of about 25 weeks, and 1-year survival rates less than 25% in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung

LOS ANGELES--The addition of tirapazamine to cisplatin (Platinol) significantly prolongs survival in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), without causing additional myelosuppression, Joachim von Pawel, MD, of Central

CHICAGO--A role is emerging for multimodality therapy in the treatment of both resectable and unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). When given as an adjunct to radiotherapy or surgery, chemotherapy can downstage local disease and control systemic disease spread by eliminating micro-metastases or delaying the development of metastases, Ann Mauer, MD, a senior fellow in oncology at the University of Chicago, said at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society and American Lung Association.

CHICAGO--Monitoring instruments that evaluate the symptoms and psychosocial problems of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may not provide clear answers regarding the quality of patients’ lives because they are difficult to analyze and they measure aspects of quality that are not affected by chemotherapy, said Richard Gralla, MD, chief of immunology and oncology and director of the Ochsner Cancer Center, New Orleans.

INDIANAPOLIS--Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have higher response rates, longer time to progression, and better overall survival with gemcitabine (Gemzar) plus cisplatin (Platinol) than with cis-platin alone, according to data from a multicenter, randomized, phase III study presented at the annual ASCO meeting.

NAPLES, Italy--Platinum-based chemotherapy is often avoided in elderly lung cancer patients due to concerns about tolerability. Since about one-third of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are over age 70 at diagnosis, this presents a significant problem.