June 03, 2019
According to a study in Chicago, nearly a quarter of patients with lung cancer (non-small cell) who are still untreated will survive for up to five years with immunotherapy. The study conducted by researchers at UCLA, on 550 patients, showed the positive effects of pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy treatment.
An unprecedented five-year survival rate
UCLA University of Los Angeles, presented that night the encouraging results of pembrolizumab, a monotherapy treatment. The results, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco), show that 23% of patients who have not undergone chemotherapy are alive after five years with this treatment against 16% for patients already treated. Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer death in France And in the world. With standard chemotherapy, people with the condition survive on average just one year after diagnosis.
Indeed, the survival of patients with advanced lung cancer usually counted in months. Dr Edward Garon, lead author of the study and associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of Los Angeles, said: “The fact that patients in this trial are still alive, seven years after starting treatment with pembrolizumab is quite remarkable “.
Immunotherapy, a revolution in cancer treatment
Immunotherapy helps trigger an immune response to identify cancer cells anduse antibodies to attack them. Chemotherapy, much more common in France, uses chemicals to destroy cancer cells but also causes damage to healthy cells.
The treatment used, pembrolizumab, is an immune checkpoint inhibitor that blocks the interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1, two proteins located on the surface of T cells. By blocking this interaction, which usually suppresses the immune response from the body, pembrolizumab activates the immune system to better fight cancer. The researchers found that the drug was more effective in people with higher levels of PD-L1, whether or not they had previously been treated for cancer.
Stephanie Haerts
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