Decreasing The Lung Cancer Death Rate by Half And The Ambition For Genuine Cures– Why One Drugmaker Continues To Invest in Targeted Therapies

We sat down with AstraZeneca’s Vice President, Head of US Lung Cancer Franchise, Arun Krishna, to learn more about this exciting development for NSCLC patients.

“One of the ambitions for AstraZeneca is to eliminate cancer as a cause of death,” Krishna told SurvivorNet. “And in order to be able to do that, we really need to move treatments earlier in the setting. And with the advent of precision oncology like we have today, it’s critical that we have treatments that are targeted to the biomarkers.”

The EGFR mutation is an example of a biomarker. The EGFR gene makes a specific protein that’s imperative to regulate the normal growth and proliferation of cells. Changes in the gene and its protein can, therefore, lead to abnormal, unchecked cellular growth that can turn into cancers which is what happens in EGFR-mutated lung cancers.

The trial found that Tagrisso may be able to reduce the risk of death by half for patients with this specific type of lung cancer that is massive news.

“The excitement behind this is because … we are able to demonstrate a reduction of more than 51% in the risk of death. And in five years, more than nine out of 10 patients are still alive,” Krishna explained.

“That is a significant impact from a patient standpoint because now patients in the earlier stage setting can be diagnosed earlier, treated earlier, and live longer. If you think about globally, around 2.2 million patients get diagnosed with lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer is around 80 to 85% of that 2.2 million.

“EGFR patients are anywhere ranging between 15 to 20% of those patients, so the impact of having a treatment like [Tagrisso] for those patients is critical because the volume of those patients is quite significant,” he added.

Like other cancer treatments, one of the challenges is trying to gauge the benefits vs. potential side effects. Tagrisso’s potential side effects include difficulty breathing, dizziness, vision changes, chest pain, weakness, and more.

But targeted therapies do have advantages over other types of cancer treatment when it comes to side effects.

“Most patients receive chemotherapy and we all know that though chemotherapy helps impact patients’ overall survival, it could also be detrimental from a quality of life perspective,” Krishna explained.

“To have targeted treatments like Tagrisso for patients with EGFR [mutations] where we have a manageable safety profile is incredibly rewarding because you are able to see patients living longer, but also with better quality of life,” he added.

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