& UPDATE IN TREATMENT
LUNG CANCER FACTS
& UPDATE IN TREATMENT
Lung cancer has been a terribly deadly disease among the smoking population . However almost 20 % of lung cancer patients never smoked . This has created major studies that have changed the treatment of lung cancer as well as extending the life of patients .
Program Success 9 Summer 2023
Due to its high incidence , lung cancer is a major cause of death from malignant diseases and one of the top indicators for respiratory surgery . It is in fact the second cause of death in the United States , second to heart disease .
Early in the new millennium , several genetic components were identified as the seed of lung cancers . One of them is the nonsmall cell lung cancer which used to be a deadly disease . In Japan , scientists identified a group of women , non-smokers that had lung cancer and shared the same DNA mutation . Since then , several mutations have been identified . The present and future of lung cancer has changed in many ways .
The medical and scientific advances in the treatment of lung cancers have reached a level where lives are being saved and extended . Especially patients diagnosed with the most common form of non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC ) which encompasses almost 85 % of all lung cancers . Treatments are based on medicine that uses information about a person ’ s own genes or proteins to prevent , diagnose , or treat disease .
Most people that develop lung cancer are smokers , around 80 %. A good protocol to follow is to screen smokers every year with a low dose of computed tomography . The criteria to qualify for this screening : 1 . Adults 50 to 80 years old 2 . Smoking history of pack / day for 20 years or half a pack for 40 years . 3 . Current smokers or those who have quit in the last 15 years .
The two types of new treatments that have changed the prognosis of lung cancer are targeted therapy and immunotherapy .
Targeted Therapy are drugs that focus on several cancers derived from genetic mutations or oncogenes that can drive NSCLC like mutations : EGFR , EML4-ALK , KRAS and ROS1 . Patients with these mutations have a cancer that can be “ targeted ” with specific medications like : Tagriso ( Osimertinib ), Kalkori ( crizotinib ) and Alecensa ( alectinib ). The most common lung cancer among smokers is the KRAS G12C genetic mutation which is now treated with Lumakras ( sotorasib ).
To know if any of these new great medications are what a patient needs , genetic testing must be done . If a patient does not have a mutation , we must encourage them to ask the oncologist about immunotherapy . Medicare and most insurances now cover the genetic testing and these new gene-modulating drugs .
It is important to spread this great news and encourage genetic testing in lung cancer patients . One of the imbalances in health equity is the fact that minority populations do not utilize the resources that are available for them . Learning about new , state of the art treatment may create an excellent health outcome !
“ Power today , comes from sharing information , not withholding it ”
- Keith Ferrazzi
Diane Lee , MD Lung Cancer Facts Daytona Beach , Florida July 2023