Chemo Still King in Lung Cancer
Chemo Still King in Lung Cancer
Hello. This is Mark Kris from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, talking once again about topics that came up at the 13th Annual Targeted Therapies in Lung Cancer meeting sponsored by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in Santa Monica, California.
The meeting was on targeted therapies, but one very interesting theme that was present throughout the meeting was that chemotherapy is king. We have seen some dramatic benefits from targeted therapies. I think the ALK and EGFR stories are probably the best examples, where the treatment of ALK- and EGFR-positive lung cancer is radically different and radically better for our patients. We've seen that. The fact is, though, that despite those benefits, they are not permanent. We don't yet have a curative strategy that employs those agents. The systemic treatments that have cured lung cancer are chemotherapy and radiation. I think we need to be reminded of the importance of chemotherapy and radiation even in this era of targeted therapy, and that making the best choices for chemotherapy in patients receiving targeted therapy is absolutely critical.
When you hear all of the targeted therapies being discussed, it becomes very clear that in virtually every presentation, there was a slide about either following targeted therapy with chemotherapy or giving targeted therapy with chemotherapy. Quite clearly, these new treatments provide a benefit. They are not curative but will be additive or perhaps even synergistic with our more traditional chemotherapies.
So, chemo is here. Every patient who is fit receives chemotherapy. If the clinical situation is correct, we continue to rely on chemotherapy for the curative modalities and curative programs that we take part in, particularly preoperative or neoadjuvant therapy, adjuvant therapy in surgically resectable illnesses, or concurrent chemotherapy and radiation for patients with locally advanced but unresectable disease.
Chemotherapy Is King
Hello. This is Mark Kris from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, talking once again about topics that came up at the 13th Annual Targeted Therapies in Lung Cancer meeting sponsored by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in Santa Monica, California.
The meeting was on targeted therapies, but one very interesting theme that was present throughout the meeting was that chemotherapy is king. We have seen some dramatic benefits from targeted therapies. I think the ALK and EGFR stories are probably the best examples, where the treatment of ALK- and EGFR-positive lung cancer is radically different and radically better for our patients. We've seen that. The fact is, though, that despite those benefits, they are not permanent. We don't yet have a curative strategy that employs those agents. The systemic treatments that have cured lung cancer are chemotherapy and radiation. I think we need to be reminded of the importance of chemotherapy and radiation even in this era of targeted therapy, and that making the best choices for chemotherapy in patients receiving targeted therapy is absolutely critical.
When you hear all of the targeted therapies being discussed, it becomes very clear that in virtually every presentation, there was a slide about either following targeted therapy with chemotherapy or giving targeted therapy with chemotherapy. Quite clearly, these new treatments provide a benefit. They are not curative but will be additive or perhaps even synergistic with our more traditional chemotherapies.
So, chemo is here. Every patient who is fit receives chemotherapy. If the clinical situation is correct, we continue to rely on chemotherapy for the curative modalities and curative programs that we take part in, particularly preoperative or neoadjuvant therapy, adjuvant therapy in surgically resectable illnesses, or concurrent chemotherapy and radiation for patients with locally advanced but unresectable disease.
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