Chemo prolongs survival after lung cancer surgery

	Tweet

Researchers this week reported brighter prospects for patients with lung cancer.

For the first time, a large clinical trial has shown that combination chemotherapy given after complete surgical removal of early-stage lung cancer significantly prolongs patients’ survival.

The study involved 482 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, a common type of the disease. After surgery, those treated for 16 weeks with a combination of two chemotherapy drugs --vinorelbine and cisplatin—survived an average of 94 months.

That compares with 73 months for those given no chemotherapy after surgery, the current standard of care.

Sixty-nine percent of the vinorelbine/cisplatin group survived at least 5 years compared with 54 percent of the surgery-only group.

The time before recurrence of the cancer was also significantly longer in the vinorelbine/cisplatin group.

“This study should solidify opinion in favor of changing the standard of care for these patients,” Dr. Timothy L. Winton of the National Cancer Institute of Canada said in a statement at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, where he presented the study.

“A 15 percent overall survival benefit 5 years after surgery and prolonged disease-free survival in this population are major advances,” he added.

RELATED STORIES:
Smokers’ lung cancer risk identified in CT screening study   False-positive cancer screening results costly   Soy eaters may have lower rates of lung cancer   Symptom Management For Bone Metastases   How Is Lung Cancer Diagnosed?   Bone Metastases and Lung Cancer   New U.S. trial starts of tailored cancer treatment   Virus not linked to type of lung cancer   Study finds genetic link to lung cancer   How Is Lung Cancer Treated?   Lung cancer linked to risk of stroke   Spontaneous smoking cessation may be an early symptom of lung cancer, research suggests

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]