Further 2012 Lung Cancer Highlights from Dr. Leighl: MEK, KR

[NikoleV]

Further 2012 Lung Cancer Highlights from Dr. Leighl: MEK, KRAS Mutations, and Immunotherapy

April 10th, 2013 - by Dr. Jack West

http://expertblog.lungevity.org/2013/04 ... notherapy/

Click the link above to view the podcast links.

Here are the next couple of podcasts from Dr. Leighl’s “Highlights of Lung Cancer from 2012″ webinar. Part 3 focused on exciting research presented at ASCO 2012 and recently published on the promising evidence of efficacy of selumetinib, one of a new class of targeted agents called MEK inhibitors, for the 20-25% of patients who have a KRAS mutation. Despite the fact that we’ve known about KRAS mutations for over 20 years and it’s the most common mutation seen in lung cancer (and across different histologies), we haven’t found an effective treatment specifically for KRAS mutation-positive patients. Though this work is only a randomized phase II trial and not the definitive answer, it’s quite promising and is leading to enthusiasm about the larger studies with MEK inhibitors that are now getting off the ground. Here are the video and audio versions of the podcast, along with the figures as a pdf file.

Leighl HL in LC 2012 Pt 3 MEK for KRAS Mutn Video Podcast

Leighl HL in LC 2012 Pt 3 MEK for KRAS Mutn Audio Podcast

Leighl HL in LC 2012 Pt 3 MEK for KRAS Mutn Figures

Dr. Leighl continued with a discussion of the challenges that many patients with squamous NSCLC face, typically not having a cancer with a “driver mutation” like an EGFR mutation or an ALK rearrangement. She notes, however, that several new targets that may be especially relevant for patients with squamous NSCLC are becoming the subject of growing clinical research. In addition, one exciting development from 2012 that appears perhaps particularly beneficial for patients with squamous NSCLC is anti-PD1 antibody immunotherapy, an agent now known as nivolumab.

Here are the video and audio versions of the podcast for this portion of the webinar, along with the associated figures:

Leighl HL in LC 2012 Pt 4 Squam and Anti-PD1 Immunotherapy Video Podcast

Leighl HL in LC 2012 Pt 4 Squam and Anti-PD1 Immunotherapy Audio Podcast

Leighl HL in LC 2012 Pt 4 Squam and Anti-PD1 Immunotherapy Figures

The last portion of her presentation, covering developments in maintenance therapy for advanced NSCLC, will be posted shortly.

I hope you find this information helpful and encouraging!