Lung Cancer News and Research

Latest Lung Cancer News and Research

Merck’s initiation of EMD 1201081-cetuximab combination Phase 2 trial triggers €3.0M milestone payment

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that it has achieved a milestone under its worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The milestone was achieved upon initiation of a Phase 2 trial by Merck KGaA of EMD 1201081, a novel agonist of Toll-like Receptor 9 (TLR9), in combination with cetuximab (Erbitux®) in second-line cetuximab-naïve patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

20 Jan 2010

Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke makes lung cancer much worse

Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke makes lung cancer much worse, and one reason is that it steps up inflammation in the lung. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that mice with early lung cancer lesions that were repeatedly exposed to tobacco smoke developed larger tumors - and developed tumors more quickly - than unexposed animals.

19 Jan 2010

Social factors still influence access to cancer services

People who develop the most common forms of cancer are still more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage in their disease if they live in a deprived area, new research has found.

19 Jan 2010

Leafy green vegetables, folate and multivitamins can prevent lung cancer in smokers

Leafy green vegetables, folate, and some multivitamins could serve as protective factors against lung cancer in current and former smokers, according to a study that is a first step in understanding a complex association.

19 Jan 2010

Calsed earns proprietary clinical gold standard status from Decision Resources

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that Celgene/Nippon Kayaku's Calsed earns Decision Resources' proprietary clinical gold standard status in 2013 for the treatment of extensive-disease small-cell lung cancer, following its approval for the indication in 2012.

19 Jan 2010

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with increased risk of lung cancer

Adverse events in childhood have been linked to an increase in the likelihood of developing lung cancer in later life. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health describe how the link is partly explained by raised rates of cigarette smoking in victims of childhood trauma, but note that other factors may also be to blame.

19 Jan 2010

Study results show increase of mortality due to colon cancer in Spain

There are stark geographical contrasts in the incidence of colon cancer worldwide. The new study analyses the causes of these disparities, starting with Spanish trends between 1951 and 2006 in terms of certain changes in consumption (tobacco, alcohol, red and processed meat, fish, vegetables...) and also behaviour (physical exercise, sedentary lifestyles-).

18 Jan 2010

FDA extends Tarceva's sNDA review period

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the review period for the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Tarceva® (erlotinib) as a first-line maintenance therapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by an additional 90 days.

18 Jan 2010

Researchers identify ways to predict patients with small-cell lung cancer

Researchers for TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare (TCRS) have identified a way to predict which patients with small-cell lung cancer may be resistant to first-line chemotherapy.

18 Jan 2010

New research shows cutting tobacco smoking reduces cancer deaths in Europe

New research on deaths from cancer in Europe concludes that the key priority for continuing to reduce mortality is cutting tobacco smoking. The study shows that, while deaths for men from lung cancer in the EU have declined overall, by 17 % from 1995 to 2004, they rose by 27% for women over the same period.

17 Jan 2010

Radon gas responsible for approximately 20,000 deaths in the U.S.

The Environmental Protection Agency has designated January as National Radon Action Month. According to recent reports from the World Health Organization, radon gas is responsible for approximately 20,000 deaths in the U.S. and 100,000 deaths worldwide each year.

13 Jan 2010

Researchers discover 93-gene signature associated with EGFR mutations in lung cancer tumors

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a validated therapeutic target for non-small cell lung cancer. Researchers have now discovered a 93-gene signature that is associated with the presence of EGFR mutations in tumors from lung cancer patients and is a favorable prognostic marker in patients with early stage lung cancer.

13 Jan 2010

Study: Patients with specific oncogenic rearrangements of ALK gene show greater response to new therapy

Results of a new study in non-small cell lung cancer showed that patients with specific oncogenic rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene within the short arm of chromosome 2 of their tumors had a much greater response to a new therapy - an ALK-inhibitor.

13 Jan 2010

Retreating with gefitinib may benefit non-small cell lung cancer patients

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer in whom treatment with gefitinib is ineffective often have limited options, but results of a new study suggest that retreating patients with the same drug could have a beneficial effect.

13 Jan 2010

Three tumor microRNAs may help identify chemoresistance in small cell lung cancer patients

At least three tumor microRNAs appear to predict when first-line chemotherapy will prove ineffective in some patients with small cell lung cancer, according to data presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer, held Jan. 11-14, 2010.

13 Jan 2010

Synta Pharmaceuticals presents preclinical results of STA-9090 at AACR-IASLC Joint Conference

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, today announced that preclinical results presented at the AACR-IASLC (American Academy of Cancer Research – International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer) Joint Conference based on work done at Synta and at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston showed that STA-9090, a potent, synthetic inhibitor of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), demonstrated potent activity against 100% of all non-small cell lung cancer cell lines tested, including those with EGFR, HER2 or KRAS mutations including the EGFR T790 mutation that is present in roughly 50% of cases of erlotinib or gefitinib resistance.

13 Jan 2010

Green tea could modulate smoke-induced lung cancer

Drinking green tea could modulate the effect of smoking on lung cancer. Results of this hospital-based, randomized study conducted in Taiwan were presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer, held here from Jan. 11-14, 2010.

13 Jan 2010