Lung Cancer

In the first large, randomized trial to look at immunotherapy as a first-line cancer treatment, researchers found that adding the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab to chemotherapy for advanced lung cancer led to better tumor control and overall survival than chemotherapy followed by pembrolizumab.

The update on the KEYNOTE-189 trial provides nearly two years data on use of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Smoking-related lung cancer rates are expected to drop dramatically over the next 50 years, but lung cancer will continue to be a significant health problem in the United States, says a University of Michigan researcher.

Researchers have identified a gene that when inhibited or reduced, in turn, reduced or prevented human non-small cell lung cancer tumors from growing. When mice were injected with non-small cell lung cancer cells that contained the gene NOVA1, three of four mice formed tumors. When the mice were injected with cancer cells without NOVA1, three of four mice remained tumor-free.

New research shows how to personalize the lung cancer screening decision for every patient. The results could help doctors fine-tune their advice to patients so that it’s based not only on a patient’s individual lung cancer risk and the potential benefits and harms of screening, but also the patient’s attitude about looking for problems and dealing with the consequences

A new study shows how to personalize the lung cancer screening decision for every patient. The results could help doctors fine-tune their advice to patients so that it’s based not only on a patient’s individual lung cancer risk and the potential benefits and harms of screening, but also the patient’s attitude about looking for problems and dealing with the consequences.

Although it is rare, knowledge of this risk is important both for the ophthalmologists who treat it and for the oncologists prescribing the anti-cancer treatment, say Michigan Medicine researchers. The cases of three recent patients, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, highlight the issue. Patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors developed uveal effusions and eye inflammation that affected their vision.

Researchers found that 1 in 7 patients undergoing lung cancer surgery became new persistent opioid users after surgery, establishing opioid dependence as a postoperative complication that is as common as others, including atrial fibrillation.