SCIENTISTS think they have found the best lung cancer drug ever and say it could add years to the lives of patients who die from the disease.
Trials found that lorlatinib stopped tumors even though they had spread to the brain.
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On average, patients survived five years without their cancer getting worse, compared to just nine months on standard medication.
Most are still alive years after doctors expected them to die.
The medicine, used to treat ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer, is now available to select patients through the NHS.
Campaigners hope the “groundbreaking” results will make it a lifeline for all 350 Brits who contract this type of cancer every year.
Study author Dr Benjamin Solomon, from Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne, said: “The progression-free survival benefit is the longest ever reported in this cancer type and, to date, of any targeted cancer therapy of lungs to date. ”
Dr. David Spigel of the American Society of Clinical Oncology added: “These results are off the charts.
“We simply don’t see results like this in oncology very often, much less in non-small cell lung cancer.
“These are among the best results we have seen in advanced disease in any setting, it is truly a huge step forward in the treatment of lung cancer.”
Non-small cell lung cancers account for just over half of lung tumors and around five percent have a mutation in a gene called ALK – called ALK-positive cancers.
This type is more common in young adults – a third of cases in people under 40 – and non-smokers.
About a quarter of patients’ tumors spread to the brain before they are diagnosed.
Dr. Solomon studied the effect of lorlatinib, also known as Lorviqua, on 296 patients with this type of cancer and compared it with an older medicine called crizotinib.
What is ALK positive non-small cell lung cancer?
ALK stands for anaplastic lymphoma kinase.
The ALK gene is in your body when you are an embryo, but it is turned off before birth.
For some people, it is reactivated and fuses with another gene.
This genetic change is called an ALK fusion or ALK rearrangement and can cause cancer.
ALK-positive lung cancer is a type of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The ALK gene, in most cases, fuses with the echinoderm microtubule-associated protein 4 (EML4).
This fusion causes cellular enzymes (specialized proteins) to send signals to cells, instructing them to divide and multiply more quickly than usual, says ALK Positive UK.
The result is the spread of lung cancer. But it can also originate in many other parts of the body.
ALK-positive lung cancer occurs in approximately five percent of all lung cancer patients.
However, it occurs in approximately 30% of lung cancer patients diagnosed under the age of 40.
After five years, 60 percent of patients taking lorlatinib had not gotten worse.
The same happened to just 8% of people taking the standard medicine – meaning the cancer spread in nine out of 10 of those cases.
Lorlatinib also stopped the cancer from spreading to the brain in almost all patients, while the other group saw it spread in an average of 16 months.
Professor Charles Swanton, chief medical officer at Cancer Research UK, said the results were “groundbreaking” and added: “This study could present us with an effective way of stopping cancer and stopping it spreading to the brain.”
Lorlatinib is already used on the NHS, but charities hope the new results will increase it so that everyone with this type of cancer can get it.
Debra Montague, from ALK Positive Lung Cancer UK, said: “The drug is not yet in use for first-line treatment in England, but we hope it will be approved following these results.
“ALK-positive lung cancer often affects patients who have never smoked and this drug raises the prospect of extending life for many years.”
‘Cutting-edge’ personalized vaccine starts on NHS
A DAD has become the first person to receive a personalized NHS cancer vaccine in a major new programme.
Thousands more patients are now expected to receive the next-generation experimental vaccine to stop tumor growth.
University professor Elliot Pfebve, 55, received the first of the new vaccines – which neither prevent nor cure tumors, but eliminate remaining cancer cells after surgery or chemotherapy.
The father-of-four, from Walsall, West Mids, had chemotherapy after bowel cancer was detected at a routine NHS scan in May 2023.
He said after the injection: “It was wonderful to be able to take part in something that could lead to a new way of treating cancer.”
The NHS will match patients with clinical trials for their specific tumors through its new cancer vaccine launch platform.
Infusions are tailored to match the DNA of unique tumors.
The vaccine – made by Covid vaccine maker BioNTech using similar mRNA technology – trains the immune system to fight cancer cells.
Each patient receives a DNA sample collected during treatment and a vaccine is then tailored to match the proteins found in their exact tumor.
Patients receive regular infusions for 12 months, starting with weekly treatment during a loading period, before doses are gradually reduced to biweekly and then every six weeks.
Professor Peter Johnson, from NHS England, said: “This is cutting-edge technology. . . a very important development in cancer treatment.”
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