MILAN, ITALY – October 10, 2010 – Novocure reported today that patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) achieved a significant increase in survival time when tumor treating fields (TTF) therapy was added to chemotherapy, as compared …
Patients with the earliest form of the most common type of lung cancer are more than twice as likely to die of the disease within four years if they have a mutation in a well known cancer-causing gene, scientists have found. The study in the July 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute also shows that lung cancer patients who both smoke and consume alcohol frequently are more likely to have the mutation.
In a demonstration of vaccine therapy’s potential for treating lung cancer, scientists report that a prototype vaccine boosted the natural immune response to tumors in a small group of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Moreover, the vaccine was found to be non-toxic and well-tolerated. Published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, findings from the Phase I clinical trial will provide an impetus for further efforts to develop a vaccine against NSCLC, a difficult-to-treat condition that accounts for roughly 80 percent of all lung cancer cases.
Surgeons in Philadelphia say they are finding success by combining light-based cancer therapy with surgery to treat patients with advanced lung cancer that has spread within the chest. While the number of patients treated to date is small, many patients are living three to four times longer than did those patients who did not receive the therapy. In photodynamic therapy (PDT), a nontoxic photosensitizing agent, photofrin, is injected into the bloodstream and absorbed by cells all over the body. These compounds tend to concentrate more in cancer cells than in normal cells. When the compound is exposed to a certain wavelength of light, it absorbs the light energy and produces a form of oxygen that kills the cells. The damage occurs only where the light is shined. In the study, each patient is given chemotherapy until the cancer stops responding, meaning the disease begins to grow again. If the cancer has not spread beyond the chest, the patient then receives photofrin 24 hours prior to surgery to remove the tumor. During surgery, he or she receives an appropriate dose of light therapy. Of the 16 patients evaluated to date, at least one-half have lived more than 23 months, which is between three and four times the usual time.