A newly approved drug combination by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) offers lung cancer patients hope for longer survival. A large-scale trial, funded by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, revealed that the combination of amivantamab, a monoclonal antibody, and lazertinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, can halt the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for over 40% longer than previous treatments.
The trial included over 1,000 patients in advanced stages of NSCLC, randomly assigned to either the new drug combo or the standard treatment, osimertinib. Results showed that patients receiving the new treatment remained progression-free for an average of 23.7 months, compared to 16.6 months for those on osimertinib, The Guardian reported.
Martin Forster, the UK trial chief and medical oncologist at University College Hospital, said, "It's amazing to see this new combination shows longer cancer control than osimertinib, which was itself a breakthrough treatment only a few years ago," Forster said.
Experts view this as part of a "golden age" in cancer research. Raffaele Califano, a consultant in medical oncology, emphasized the significance: "By combining these two drugs, which stop the cancer from growing in different ways, we see a significant improvement in progression-free survival rates."
"Survival rates for lung cancer are still very low compared with other types of the disease and so to see such positive results is a welcome development."
The FDA approved the treatment in August, marking a significant advancement in the fight against lung cancer, which kills nearly 1.8 million people annually.
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