Lung Cancer / Mesothelioma
After describing the association of a rash on EGFR inhibitors with overall better outcomes on this class of agents, we can now take a step back and recognize that the rash can be an annoyance at the very least and sometimes a real problem. While there are no established guidelines, both treating physicians and patients […]
15 CommentsWhile progress in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been slow, over the past few years there have been leads in management of extensive disease that have introduced a potential change in the standard of care based on better results. Extensive disease SCLC, or ED-SCLC, is defined by having cancer that has spread outside of […]
7 CommentsAn acne-like rash or dry skin is a very common side effect of the drugs that target the epidermal growth factor receptor, with approximately 3/4 of patients who receive the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhbitor tarceva/erlotinib experiencing skin toxicity. Similar skin toxicities are also seen, but a bit less commonly, with the very similar drug iressa/gefitinib, and also […]
16 CommentsAfter several weeks of posts on other aspects of lung cancer, I am long overdue to write on small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Although it is good to see the number of SCLC cases decreasing over time, and becoming a smaller and smaller percentage of lung cancer cases overall (only about 13% in the […]
27 CommentsI reviewed some of the differences in the biology and clinical behavior of never-smoker lung cancers vs. the much more common lung cancer seen in current or former smokers. The main reason it is worth discussing is that there appear to be important differences in how never-smokers with NSCLC respond to some treatments, particularly […]
2 CommentsJust a few years ago, the only distinction in the field of lung cancer that meant anything was small cell vs. non-small cell. The different types of non-small cell, like adenocarcinoma vs. squamous cell vs. large cell, were of little interest and didn’t change management (only a very recent development). And although we often […]
0 CommentsAs mentioned in prior posts, the anti-angiogenic monoclonal antibody Avastin (bevacizumab) is now approved in first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy. Among the very interesting questions is whether Avastin should be added with other active drugs for NSCLC. Most of us in the field strongly suspect that the survival benefit […]
6 CommentsSince the earliest clinical trials of EGFR inhibitors in NSCLC, certain clinically defined patient subsets became identified as more likely to show a benefit than others. Such studies suggested that women, patients with adenocarcinomas rather than squamous cell carcinomas, Asian patients, and never-smokers compared with current or former smokers were the patients who would […]
6 CommentsIn a recent post, I described the approval of taxotere as a second-line chemotherapy with a modest but survival benefit for patients previously treated with one line of chemo, usually a platinum-based doublet. Two years ago, erlotinib/tarceva, an inhibitor of a target on many NSCLC tumors called the epidermal growth factor receptor, was approved by the FDA as […]
4 CommentsAlthough we are all frustrated by the relatively slow pace of progress in lung cancer, there are times when we can look back and feel that we have made a real impact. Six years ago there were no treatments that were FDA approved and appeared to benefit patients who had previously been treated with […]
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