Inoperable lung cancer: with a new strategy, surgery is possible
Study published in Jama Oncology: 3 out of 4 patients were successfully operated on, in almost a third of cases the tumour disappeared completely
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Key points
3' min read
Advanced lung cancer represents one of the most difficult challenges in oncology, with treatment options often ineffective. But encouraging results are coming in from a study that offers new hope for those who until yesterday had no surgical options, paving the way for further research and possible updates to international treatment guidelines. The data suggest that chemotherapy and immunotherapy before surgery can significantly improve the disease and allow surgical removal in patients with advanced and inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Cappuzzo (Ire): 75% of patients successfully operated
The international study, published in the scientific journal Jama Oncology, is the result of a collaboration between centres of excellence in Italy and the United States, and involved the IFO-Istituto Nazionale Tumori Regina Elena (IRE), the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
"The Regina Elena contributed to the study," highlights Federico Cappuzzo, director of the UOC of Medical Oncology 2 IRE and study coordinator, "through the enrolment and molecular characterisation of the patients, confirming the value of international cooperation and integration between clinical and translational research. Seventy-five per cent of patients were successfully operated on, with a complete response to therapy in almost a third of cases."
Disease-free survival of more than 52 months
.The research included 112 clinical cases. Seventy-five percent of the patients underwent surgery, with a complete response rate of 29% and significant response of 42.2%. Treated patients achieved a disease-free survival of more than 52 months.
'Thanks to this innovative approach,' emphasises Lorenza Landi, head of IRE's Phase 1 Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine UOSD, 'of the specific combination of chemo and immunotherapy, we have been able to reduce the tumour mass and make patients with locally advanced lung cancer operable, and thus give new hope to those who until yesterday had no surgical option'.
