A study conducted by executive director of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, found a new drug that shows remarkable promise in treating patients with a specific type of advanced lung cancer. Osimertinib significantly extends the time patients live without their cancer worsening. This offers the first effective therapy and new hope for those with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein that controls cell division and survival.
Patients participating in the trial had already undergone standard treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation, without their cancer progressing further.
The positive results from the LAURA Phase III trial underscore the importance of early testing and diagnosis in lung cancer, which remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, accounting for about one-fifth of all cancer deaths. Each year, an estimated 2.4 million people are diagnosed with lung cancer globally, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) being the most common form.
