- Researchers investigated the 5-year outcome of an immunotherapy drug on early-stage lung cancer.
- 80% of those who took the immunotherapy drug survived after 5 years, whereas survival rates from standard treatments are 36–68%.
- Further clinical trials are needed to confirm the results.
Lung cancer is the
In recent years, treatments for advanced stages of NSCLC have improved. However, breakthroughs have only recently emerged for early-stage forms of the condition.
In a previous study, researchers found that 73% of patients who received two doses of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab before surgery were recurrence-free 18 months after surgery.
Knowing more about the long-term effects of nivolumab in NSCLC could improve treatment options and outcomes for patients.
Recently, the researchers conducted a 5-year follow-up of the patients in the previous nivolumab study. Those who received nivolumab had a decreased risk of recurrence after 5 years compared to standard treatment.
The study findings were published in Clinical Cancer Research.
For the study, the researchers recruited 21 patients with stage 1–3 NSCLC. Around half of the patients were female, and they were 67 years old on average.
Patients received two preoperative intravenous doses of nivolumab every 2 weeks. They also underwent surgery 4 weeks after their first dose.
One patient was not eligible for surgery due to the progression of their condition. Other patients were followed for an average of 63 months.
The researchers found that 60% of patients remained recurrence-free after 5 years. They also found that 80% were still alive after 5 years — significantly more than typical 5-year survival rates of 36- 68%.
The researchers noted that nivolumab treatment was linked to few side effects and did…
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