By Renee Botello MSc, Navigator, Treatment and Trials, GO2 for Lung Cancer and Roy Herbst, MD, PhD

Each year, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) holds an annual meeting that shares novel breakthroughs and transformative research in oncology. This year’s ASCO theme, “The Art and Science of Cancer Care: From Comfort to Cure,” perfectly captured the unique blend of inspiration and art represented through cancer research, fostering engagement and connection among those in attendance and beyond.

Lung cancer on the global stage

The ASCO annual meeting is where you hear the latest and greatest cutting-edge research that will change the practice and improve the approach to cancer worldwide. The plenary session at ASCO features a selection of studies that can highly influence the future of cancer care, highlighting the impact on the research in oncology to the largest audience at the event. This year, lung cancer studies were 3 of the 5 presentations in the plenary—a huge milestone for lung cancer research.

What is the impact of research on lung cancer treatment and care?

GO2 hosted a Lung Cancer Living Room episode, “The Best of ASCO 2024,” with Dr. Roy Herbst to recap key takeaways for the lung cancer community. Among other highlights, he dove into 3 high-impact studies from this year’s event.

The REACH study: accessible palliative care for lung cancer patients

The first study revolved around the accessibility of palliative care during lung cancer treatment. However, it also brought a specific spotlight to the way that cancer care is approached and accessed. Dr. Herbst made a great point, further discussed in the study: “When you treat people with lung cancer, you’re treating them to kill the cancer. But you can’t forget about the person.”

The REACH study recognizes that the early integration of palliative care in treatment is associated with improved quality of life and increased survival for people with advanced lung cancer. However, when limiting factors, such as the number of available palliative specialists or the distance to treatment centers, affect access to palliative care, this can lead to a burden on care.

So, how does the study address this concern? The results from the study where 2 groups received palliative care in-person and through telehealth, respectively, showed that creating high-quality access to care through telehealth resulted in equal benefit to that observed in in-person care.

“There are restrictions about how to do these videos from COVID to now, and there are still limitations in access to a private video,” said Dr. Herbst, “But that said, I think this shows palliative supportive care in lung cancer makes a difference.” While more studies are needed to better understand and approach the person’s care experience during treatment, the data empowers change in the tools and accessibility of cancer care in clinics or areas with limitations to palliative services.

If you find yourself struggling with symptoms or side effects of treatment, please share these with your medical team. They can work with you to find palliative treatment options that best fit your needs.

The LAURA trial: A big win for EGFR+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Biomarker-driven NSCLC treatment has made a significantly changed since the recognition of EGFR in NSCLC 20 years ago. As the push for comprehensive biomarker testing in NSCLC continues, lung cancer treatment guidelines for actionable mutations have changed to target those specific alterations.

In the case of stage 3 (III) EGFR+ NSCLC, standard therapy recommends a concurrent (taken at the same time) chemotherapy and radiation combination, followed by immunotherapy. The LAURA trial, however, approaches treatment a bit differently by adding Tagrisso (osimertinib) after chemoradiation for stage 3 (III) EGFR+ NSCLC. The addition of Tagrisso (osimertinib) resulted in decreased progression of the cancer and overall high benefits in the treatment outcome. This personalizes stage 3 (III) EGFR+ NSCLC treatment even more.

So, what does this mean?

“It means that practice changed as you were sitting there,” said Dr. Herbst, as adding Tagrisso (osimertinib) can change the standard of care options. Although many participants in the study originated in Asia, Dr. Herbst noted that “we’ll see this in the US now because we’re going to screen for it.”

Further personalized treatment approaches to other aspects of NSCLC EGFR+ treatment continue to be studied.

The ADRIATIC study: A standing ovation for a new approach to the standard of care in limited-stage SCLC (LS-SCLC)

Lung cancer is 1 of only 2 or 3 types of cancer where when you reactivate the immune system to target the cancer, you can observe a benefit. This type of treatment regimen is known as immunotherapy. Immunotherapy benefits have been discussed in NSCLC research, but in LS-SCLC, there hasn’t previously been much benefit.

During an already exciting year for SCLC treatment, the ADRIATIC study data showed a new approach for inoperable LS-SCLC. The standard of care for LS-SCLC includes surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

“Now, if you have LS-SCLC, immunotherapy becomes part of the equation,” said Dr. Herbst when discussing the study results. The ADRIATIC study was met with great excitement, as there was improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival in inoperable LS-SCLC that received immunotherapy (IMFINZI (durvalumab)) after chemoradiation.

Recent progress in the treatment of SCLC continues to push the personalization of treatment and how to identify it best.

“People need to have knowledge about what they can get,” said Dr. Herbst when discussing the importance of talking about new research and what treatments are available. With researchers making further progress in the SCLC treatment landscape, more personalized treatment regimens and promising research emphasize the art of cancer treatment in lung cancer.

Research presented at ASCO addressed many important patient-centric questions.  However, many remain about when treatment guidelines may change, how those changes would be applied, and what to expect for lung cancer treatment.

As Dr. Herbst stated during the Living Room, “We are making progress… but we need more. And that is why research and science is so important.”

GO2 is excited about the hope the research presented brings, the potential increase in survivorship to those in our community, and the future changes in treatment to come.

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Do you have questions about lung cancer treatment or clinical trials? Our LungMATCH team is here to help. To speak with our LungMATCH navigators, please call us at 1-800-298-2436 or email us at support@go2.org.