Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc.Oct 17 2023 More people with non-small cell lung cancer are likely to benefit from new drugs that target molecular alterations in tumor cells, with less need for chemotherapy, following results of multiple landmark clinical trials reported for the first time in late-breaking presentations at the ESMO Congress 2023.
"We still need to see that the new combination leads to improved overall survival compared with current treatment. We also need to understand more about the effects in patients with brain metastases as it appears that one of the newer EGFR-targeting agents used in these studies has good penetration of brain tissue," commented Curioni-Fontecedro.
In addition, study data reinforce the value of adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy in some types of NSCLC, including the use of this treatment before surgery for patients with operable cancers to shrink tumors and indicate likely response to further treatment after surgery . "The approach using these antibody drug conjugates will make a big difference for the majority of patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC who have stopped responding to first and second-line treatments, irrespective of whether they have targetable mutations. We need to know more about the side-effects of this approach but these findings are likely to change the standard of care for these patients," predicted Curioni-Fontecedro.