EGFR+ Lung Cancer

Nivolumab (Opdivo) improved survival compared with docetaxel in patients with pretreated squamous cell non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the phase III CheckMate-017 trial, according to Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), which manufactures the drug.

Thomas J. Lynch, MD, discusses challenges associated with treating patients with lung cancer with molecular targeted therapies.

Treating sensitizing EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) leads to better outcomes compared with standard chemotherapy.

The FDA has approved the VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumor has progressed during or following treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.

A 25-gene hereditary cancer panel can increase the identification of deleterious mutations by almost 70%, over testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) or Lynch syndrome alone.

The programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) ligand, PD-L1, has become a viable target for immunotherapy in cancer, with multiple antibodies now in development.

Multiple trials are ongoing in NSCLC with immunotherapy agents. As with most cancers, however, there is also a need to identify which types of patients with NSCLC might benefit the most from these new therapies.

Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, MD, discusses adverse events associated with immunotherapies for the treatment of lung cancer.

Ceritinib (Zykadia) showed clinically significant antitumor activity in patients with ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including those with brain metastases.

Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, discussed the potential of veliparib as a treatment for patients with squamous cell NSCLC in an interview with Targeted Oncology.

Peter Hammerman, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the future treatment of squamous cell lung cancer.

Increasing knowledge of the diverse pathologic and molecular phenotypes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has driven a more complex treatment algorithm in recent years.

Benjamin P. Levy, MD, comments on the role of chemotherapy in the treatment of lung cancer.

Abraham Chachoua, MD, discusses some challenges of treating patients with lung cancer.

Howard (Jack) West, MD, is the medical director of the Thoracic Oncology Program at Swedish Cancer Institute and president and CEO of Global Resource for Advancing Cancer Education.

As with many cancers, early detection (before the onset of symptoms) offers the possibility for less expensive treatment and better outcomes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Susan Galbraith, MD, PhD, provides an overview of the ongoing phase I/II AURA study.

Paul A. Bunn, Jr., MD, professor of medicine in medical oncology, head of the division of medical oncology, University of Colorado, discusses stopping treatment with a TKI before starting chemotherapy.

Early diagnosis of lung cancer is crucial, because surgery is curative only in the early stages. However, by the time most patients experience symptoms, the cancer has already progressed beyond the point of successful surgery.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to pembrolizumab for the treatment of patients with NSCLC who are EGFR mutation- or ALK rearrangement-negative and whose disease has progressed on or following platinum-based chemotherapy.

Heather Wakelee, MD, associate professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses the need to combine agents for the treatment of lung cancer.

Five novel agents for the treatment of patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung will be evaluated in the recently launched Lung-MAP trial.

Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, MD, from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the implementation of personalized medicine for lung cancer patients.

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, from Yale-New Haven in Connecticut, discusses the benefit of treating lung cancer with immunotherapy.

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) began in 2006, with a total investment of $100 million from the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute for a 3-year pilot period.