Post Surgery Drug Therapy Increases Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer 5-Year Survival Rate to 88%

AUSTIN, Texas - July 12, 2023 - PRLog -- While overall cancer survival rates have been edging up in recent decades, cancers in the lungs have generally remained more difficult to treat successfully.

But this month, there was good news for patients diagnosed with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) who harbor the T790M genetic mutation. According to a new article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, AstraZeneca's drug Osimertinib (marketed under the brand name Tagrisso) can increase the 5-year overall survival rate to 88% among patients with the T790M mutation who have undergone lung surgery to remove NSCLC tumors.

Statistically speaking, this is really good news, but it's also not immediately obvious exactly which patients can benefit from this clinical therapy.

To understand the scope of the problem, let's look at relevant statistics for the different types of lung cancer and associated genetic mutations.

Types Of Lung Cancers And Associated Genetic Mutations

The topline statistic is very sobering: lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in the US.

According to the American Cancer Society, incidences of lung cancer diagnoses rank just behind breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men. While it's not the most common form of cancer (according to the CDC, skin cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer are the most common, followed by lung cancer), lung cancer remains by far the deadliest – it is responsible for 1 in 5 cancer deaths.

The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 240,000 new lung cancer diagnoses and about 130,000 deaths in 2023.

Demographically, lung cancer is more often diagnosed among older people; the average age of those diagnosed with the disease is 70.

Those with a history of smoking are affected most. Fortunately, the number of new cases is edging downward, a trend that appears to be associated with a broad societal reduction in smoking.

Small Cell Versus Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Oncologists generally divide lung cancer into two categories: small-cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

Tissue samples taken during a biopsy can reveal the difference. As the name implies, the size of individual cells associated with small-cell lung cancer is significantly smaller.

SCLC affects fewer patients overall, comprising only about 10-15% of cases. But it's very aggressive and can spread quickly to many parts of the body, often before it's diagnosed. SCLC is also more often associated with a history of smoking.

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