The enormous promise of immunotherapy for lung cancer is starting to be realized in a big way. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a drug called nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat small cell lung cancer that has continued to progress after a patient has been given chemotherapy and at least one other treatment method. The drug, from Bristol-Myers Squibb, is the first new treatment in nearly 20 years to be approved for people whose small cell lung cancer has continued to progress. Small cell lung cancer accounts for about 10 to 15 percent of all lung cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.
Opdivo was given accelerated approval. It works by activating the immune system to attack tumors. Dr. Ken Miller, Director of Outpatient Oncology at the University of Maryland, Greenebaum Cancer Center, notes that these types of therapies are extremely promising in advanced lung cancer. A huge part of the cancer research community, and the pharmaceutical industry, is dedicated to making immunotherapy an option for many more people with cancer.
Read More“This is further evidence that immunotherapy has transformed the care of patients with all types of lung cancer,” says Roy Herbst, head of the Clinical Research Program in Thoracic Oncology at Yale Cancer Center. “The recent data for this and other immune agents in small cell cell lung cancer is so very encouraging.”
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