Lung Cancer News

An immunotherapy drug is the first to significantly reduce the risk of cancer recurrence or death in people with early-stage lung cancer, researchers report.

The influential radio host announced his lung cancer diagnosis in 2020.

Lung cancer experts have been impressed by  long-term study results that continue to show the combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy doubles survival compared with chemotherapy alone.

The immunotherapy drug Tecentriq (atezolizumab) was approved earlier this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC), which comprise up to 85% of all lung tumors.

New Guidelines May Double Lung Cancer Screening By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, July 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- CT scans have been proven to help spot lung cancer early and save lives. Now, updated expert recommendations could double the number of Americans who are eligible for the yearly screening.The recommendations -- from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) -- would expand the definition of "high risk" for lung cancer. That's expected to not only increase the number of people eligible for screening, but also to have a particular benefit for women and Black Americans.Right

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh announced on his show that he has “advanced lung cancer" and would be off the air for a few days while getting treatment.

An immune system that's not functioning normally may lead to lung cancer in patients who don't smoke, a new study suggests.

There are positive trends, including the survival numbers: Compared with a decade ago, the five-year survival rate among lung cancer patients was 26% higher in 2015.

Black patients were only 78% as likely to receive the minimum care, compared with white patients, the findings showed. Meanwhile, those aged 80 and older were only 12% as likely to receive the minimum treatment, compared with those under 50.

The experimental nasal swab relies on the fact that most lung cancer patients are current and former smokers. It's meant to be a noninvasive means of separating high-risk patients from low-risk patients, by spotting  signs of gene damage produced by long-term exposure to cigarette smoke.

Using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for lung cancer screening instead of X-rays helped reduce lung cancer deaths in current and former smokers, a new study says.

The new device was approved under the Humanitarian Device Exemption, which was created to encourage innovation in rare diseases.

A low-dose CT scan is the standard diagnostic test for people at high risk of lung cancer. In the United States, about one-quarter of these scans reveal shadows indicating nodules in the lung. Despite that positive result, fewer than 4 percent of those patients actually have cancer.

The so-called liquid biopsy is as effective as testing tissue samples in diagnosing advanced non-small cell lung cancer, researcher say.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had three bouts with cancer, this latest at age 85.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was released from the hospital Tuesday after lung cancer surgery, and is recovering a home, a Supreme Court spokeswoman says.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery for early stage lung cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Lung cancer screening is recommended for high-risk current and former smokers. But the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and other organizations say that doctors need to explain the risks as well as the benefits. Those risks include a high rate of false positives, which can lead to unnecessary follow-up procedures.

The drug has also worked well against other cancers. When former President Jimmy Carter was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his brain several years ago, it was Keytruda that threw the cancer into remission by curtailing the action of a protein known as PD-L1.

Cancer survival rates soar when tumors are detected in their earliest stages, the researchers said in background notes. Having a blood test that can detect early cancers would save countless lives.

In general, the study found, the incidence of the disease dipped over time. But men saw a sharper decrease, so that the traditional male-female pattern flipped.

Still, guidelines issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in 2013 say smokers between the ages of 55 and 80 -- whose habit amounts to a pack-a-day for 30 years and otherwise show no symptoms of disease -- should get new low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening.

The combination treatment also drove down the risk that the cancer would spread by nearly as much, added the research team from NYU Langone Health in New York City.

Nationwide, the rate of lung cancer death among women fell 6 percent between 1990 and 2015.

For the study, researchers analyzed reports on 13 clinical trials that included a total of over 800 people who had surgery for cancer.