October 2 2019

Emerging from the recent 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer&nbsp;are several notable developments, Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, wrote in this issue of&nbsp;<em>Targeted Therapies in Oncology.&nbsp;</em>

Advances in the development of targeted therapies and the identification of emerging biomarkers of response to treatment have led to an improved ability to predict and enhance responses to immunotherapeutic agents in non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

Four patients with lung adenocarcinoma with NRG1 fusions demonstrated some degree of response or tumor stabilization when given afatinib, according to a poster presentation at the 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer meeting. The findings suggest that the irreversible pan-ERBB inhibitor is a potential treatment in this rare mutation of lung adenocarcinoma.

The advent of an era of targeted immunotherapy and CAR T-cell therapies for the treatment of adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia may reduce the need for hematopoietic stem cell transplant in certain cases.<br /> &nbsp;

Findings from part 1 of the phase II/III RESILIENT trial of irinotecan hydrochloride liposome injection in second-line treatment of small cell lung cancer showed that for close to 50% of patients, disease control was maintained at 12 weeks. These data were presented at the 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Findings from an interim analysis of the National Lung Matrix Trial, a large, multiarm trial involving patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, demonstrated both promising activity and shortcomings in predefined goals in a presentation at the 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer.