Extract

New data have resolved one of oncology's long-standing debates: Adjuvant therapy in early-stage, non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) does improve survival significantly and probably should become the standard of care, according to the findings of two major trials.

In one of the trials, led by the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC), there was an absolute survival benefit of 15% after 5 years for patients receiving chemotherapy. In the other, led by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), the absolute benefit was 12% after 4 years.

“Our belief is that the findings will lead to changes in therapy,” said Bruce Johnson, M.D., of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, speaking at the June meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in New Orleans, where the late-breaking abstracts were presented.

Katherine Pisters, M.D., of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, agreed: “ Adjuvant chemotherapy is indeed a new standard of care for early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer.”

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