The first forays into lung cancer screening began in the 1970s, with two trials evaluating the use of chest x-ray and sputum cytology to detect disease. Those trials showed no reductions in mortality, advocating against the practice of lung cancer screening.  In the 50 years since that time, advances in imaging, research, and clinical trials…

Even the most advanced CT scanners available face limitations in their ability to measure small lung nodules. This is a concern since small errors in two-dimensional measures can quickly balloon to become large errors in predicted volume change.  As Ricardo S. Avila, of Accumetra, LLC, explained, an axial CT image of a 6.0 by 3.6…

In his May 7 presentation “Advance Lung Cancer Screening Globally,” Dr. Pastorino, co-chair of the CT Screening Symposium and director of the Thoracic Surgery Division at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan, discussed the MILD, BioMILD, and SMILE trials. He also is chair of the IASLC’s Screening and Early Detection Committee.

Now that the positive impact of lung cancer screening on mortality and morbidity is irrefutable, there is an obvious need to find new ways to overcome consistent challenges with implementation of screening programs. It is difficult for just a single center to define and maintain logistical standards, track and improve return rates, and implement emerging…

The PARP inhibitor olaparib did not improve PFS or OS compared with placebo when used as a maintenance therapy for patients with platinum-sensitive NSCLC, according to results of the phase II PIPSeN trial.1 Sophie Postel-Vinay, MD, PhD, of the Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus in France, presented results of the trial at the European Lung Cancer…

A higher tumor mutational burden (TMB) was associated with improved PFS and overall response rate for patients with advanced NSCLC treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab plus chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone, according to results from CheckMate 9LA presented at the European Lung Cancer Virtual Congress 2021.1   No differences in outcomes among treatment arms were…

  The real-world assessment of durvalumab in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC in the PACIFIC-R trial has highlighted important differences between this population and that of the original randomized PACIFIC trial. Fiona McDonald, MD, MA, MBBS, MRCP, FRCR, of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, presented the baseline characteristics and initial…

It has been documented and accepted that lung cancer screening saves lives by detecting disease in high-risk individuals at earlier stages, making the disease more treatable and leading to improved survival and quality of life for these patients. Earlier treatment of disease also leads to exploration of new therapeutic models, which allows researchers and clinicians…

With multiple new therapies available, Prof. Johan Vansteenkiste says the search is on for biomarkers to better match patients to treatments.

At ELCC 2021, Prof. Fiona Blackhall sees hope for improving patients’ poor prognoses on the horizon.