Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) that are most loaded with genetic mutations are most susceptible to immunotherapy drugs known as PD-L1 inhibitors, a new study by Dana-Farber researchers shows. The study, published recently in JAMA Oncology, can help doctors identify patients with the disease who are likely to benefit from the drugs, which foil tumors’ … Read more
Perhaps the biggest challenge in precision cancer therapy is tumors’ nasty habit of rebounding after an initial attack with targeted drugs has shrunk them almost out of existence. Instead of vanishing completely, curing the patient, the tumors leave behind a small cadre of cells that slumber in a dormant state, only to return in a … Read more
Lung cancer is divided into two general categories based on its appearance under the microscope: small cell and non-small cell. Non-small cell is the more common type and currently accounts for about 87 percent of lung cancers. Doctors make a distinction between the two types of lung cancers because treatment approaches differ for each. There have been many … Read more
We all know what to expect following a car accident: insurance claims, whiplash, maybe even a broken bone. Cancer, though? Not so common. For 40-year-old Laura Greco, this is what happened following a collision on a snowy day in February 2015. If I hadn’t been in the car accident, I wouldn’t have found the cancer … Read more
The FDA announced today it has approved a new pill to treat certain patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The oral medication, Tagrisso (osimertinib), has been approved for NSCLC patients whose tumors have a specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation (T790M) and whose disease has worsened after treatment with other EGFR-blocking therapy. … Read more