Lung Cancer

The third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), osimertinib (Tagrisso) targets EGFR mutations, including T790M. Osimertinib was approved by the FDA in November 2015 for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer NSCLC) and the T790M mutation whose disease progressed during or after EGFR TKI therapy.

The first liquid biopsy used to detect gene mutations that are associated with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was approved by the FDA. The cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 (Roche Molecular Systems), a blood-based companion diagnostic for erlotinib (Tarceva), is indicated as an initial test to detect EGFR gene mutations in patients with NSCLC.

Boston, MA—In a first-of-its-kind study, aprepitant (Emend), a centrally acting neurokinin (NK)-1 antagonist indicated for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), led to a reduction in cough frequency and an improvement in the objective and subjective measures of cough in patients with lung cancer.

Boston, MA—What is the best chemotherapy regimen to use for patients with locally advanced nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)? The phase 3 PROCLAIM trial attempted to answer this question, but the study failed to determine the best regimen for this patient population.

Geneva, Switzerland—A study with ­real-world data showed that almost 1 in 4 (24%) patients with advanced lung cancer are not receiving appropriate testing for EGFR mutations, even though guidelines recommend this genetic test to guide the selection of the most appropriate therapy.

Geneva, Switzerland—Circulating DNA (ctDNA) in the blood of patients with cancer appears to detect lung cancer mutations, providing similar information to tumor tissue sampling, according to a study presented at the 2015 European Lung Cancer Conference. This makes blood testing for ctDNA an attractive option when tumor tissue sampling is not accessible.

San Francisco, CA—Patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer but continue to smoke are at much higher risk for a second primary lung cancer compared with never-smokers or those who have quit smoking, according to the largest analysis of its kind, which was presented at the 2014 American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting.

Chicago, IL—A large study based on Medicare claims data reveals an opportunity to substantially cut costs of lung cancer screening, while improving quality of care. Based on this study, lung biopsies are the most expensive modality used in the diagnostic workup of patients with an abnormal chest computed tomography (CT) scan, and as many as 43.7% of the biopsies according to this study are unnecessary and are in contrast to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) lung cancer screening guidelines recommendations.

San Francisco, CA—The use of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), also called stereotactic radiotherapy or radiosurgery, is an effective option for elderly patients with cancer who are inoperable or who decline surgery, but its safety and efficacy compared with surgery have not been investigated.