Researchers find 'pill' that can cut risk of death from lung cancer by half

A decade-long global study reached “thrilling” and “unprecedented” results according to which a pill is taken once a day cuts the risk of death due to lung cancer by half.

Consuming the drug "osimertinib" after going through surgery dramatically deducted the risk of patients' death by 51 per cent, according to results presented at the largest cancer conference in the world.

Most cancer patients die of lung cancer in the world, accounting for around 1.8 million deaths every year. The results were obtained in a late-stage study led by Yale University and were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) in Chicago.

“Thirty years ago, there was nothing we could do for these patients,” stated Dr Roy Herbst, Yale Cancer Centre's deputy director and lead author of the study.

“Now we have this potent drug. Fifty per cent is a big deal in any disease, but certainly in a disease like lung cancer, which has typically been very resistant to therapies,” he added.

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The Adaura trial involved patients who were between the ages of 30 and 86 and belonged to 26 countries. The trial studies whether the pill was of help to non-small cell lung cancer patients which is the most common form of the deadly disease.

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Pill reduces risk of cancer's recurrence by half

Dr Herbst called the results “thrilling” and emphasised the earlier findings from the same trial which showed that the pill also reduces the risk of cancer's recurrence by half.

Herbst, who works as an assistant dean for translational research at Yale School of Medicine, stated that the pill will prove to be “practice-changing” and must become the “standard of care” for at least a quarter of lung cancer patients with the EGFR mutation across the world.

The drug is already accessible to some patients in the UK, US and other countries, but more people should benefit.

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“Not everyone diagnosed with lung cancer is tested for the EGFR mutation, which needs to change. This further reinforces the need to identify these patients with available biomarkers at the time of diagnosis and before treatment begins,” stated Herbst, based on the findings of the study.

“Adjuvant osimertinib demonstrated an unprecedented, highly statistically significant and clinically meaningful overall survival benefit in patients,” stated the study.

“It is hard to convey how important this finding is and how long it’s taken to get here,” stated Dr Nathan Pennell, who is an Asco expert and was not involved with the study. “This shows an unequivocal, highly significant improvement in survival,” she added.

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