Lung Cancer / Mesothelioma
We’re recognizing more and more that lung cancer in never-smokers (LCINS) is a distinct disease, with different patterns of who gets it, how the cancer behaves, and it responds to treatments. But this recognition is still a work in progress, coming from a background in which the party line has been that NSCLC is […]
3 CommentsOne of the abstracts in lung cancer that I noted as being particularly noteworthy before ASCO 2008, but which I haven’t managed to mention since, is a trial of a monoclonal antibody known as CP-751,871 that targets and inhibits insulin-like growth factor receptor-1(IGF-1R), a molecule that appears to be involved with cell growth, balance […]
5 CommentsMore than a year ago, I wrote an introductory post about mutations in KRAS, one of the genes that contributes significantly to cancer cell growth and signalling, at least in many cancers. It’s seen in around 20% of lung cancers, almost always in adenocarcinomas and not squamous NSCLC, and it’s been implicated as being […]
0 CommentsOne of the core ideas in the management of stage III, or locally advanced, NSCLC is that unresectable disease that is being treated with curative intent is most effectively treated with a combination of concurrent systemic (”whole body”) therapy and chest radiation to all of the visible cancer. The systemic therapy, which has been […]
0 CommentsAs a follow-up to my last post on the appeal of developing new regimens for combining with radiation in treatment of locally advanced unresectable NSCLC, I wanted to highlight work being done by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALBG), one of the major cancer cooperative research groups in the US. As I mentioned […]
0 CommentsWhile there have been new agents introduced and rapidly changing standards in advanced NSCLC, another 40% of patients with NSCLC have locally advanced (stage III) NSCLC, many of whom with disease that is not resectable but is potentially curable with agressive chemo and radiation. Last year’s ASCO meeting included results […]
2 CommentsWe’ve been following sorafenib (nexavar), a multi-kinase inhibitor with anti-angiogenic activity (see prior post). This oral agent, which is already approved as an effective treatment for cancers of the liver and kidney. It’s been studied as a single agent and appears to perhaps be associated with prolonged stable disease even if not with clear tumor […]
6 CommentsOne of my earliest posts when I started OncTalk was on the use of oral inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), one of the growth signals that is often over-active in cancer cells, against advanced bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC), a unique subtype of lung cancer that tends to grow within the […]
1 CommentsOne of the initial appeals of targeted therapies like tarceva (erlotinib) was that they may have fewer side effects and emerge as an alternative to standard chemo for some people. And one of the most appealing areas for offering a good alternative to standard chemo has been in the setting of older patients, who […]
1 CommentsThe FLEX trial raises a number of additional points as we struggle to determine how to integrate Erbitux (cetuximab) into the current standards of care. One question is whether we can refine how well we do with Erbitux by using clinical or molecular variables to select better or worse candidates for it. I already […]
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