“It’s back” – these are words that no person with cancer wants to hear and that every oncologist dreads saying. The potential of cancer coming back is a significant worry for people with lung cancer. Now, new treatment approaches aim to help patients live free from the disease.
Approximately half of people with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) experience their cancer coming back after surgery, despite also receiving chemotherapy. 1,2 Even with the efforts of the finest surgeon, some cancer cells can remain, with the risk that they can grow into new tumours later on.
This risk of recurrence has a profound impact on a person’s wellbeing and quality of life. “Living with the fear of cancer returning can be a huge psychosocial burden for people recovering from lung cancer surgery,” says Mark Brooke, CEO of the Lung Foundation of Australia.
Patients live with an incredible psychosocial burden around recurrence. ‘Scanxiety’ is a term that the patient community uses a lot to describe the fear and apprehension around going back for the 6-monthly CT or PET scan. The fear is profound.
Lung cancer is a complex form of cancer, made up of numerous different subtypes. The earlier lung cancer is diagnosed, the more effective treatments can be, meaning patients may live longer and have better treatment outcomes.3,4 Unfortunately, many people are diagnosed with advanced disease, after the tumour has spread.4
“We’re on a mission to put the possibility of living free from cancer within reach of as many people as possible,” says Charlie Fuchs, MD, MPH, Global Head of Oncology & Haematology Drug Development at Genentech and Roche. “Simply put, this starts with detecting and treating cancer early before it has spread. Early detection of NSCLC can change the treatment pathway for patients and increase the options available.”
With more and more personalised treatment approaches emerging in recent years, lung cancer treatment is becoming more targeted across all stages of disease, but despite this, we recognise there is still a long way to go.
Some patients may be given treatment before (neoadjuvant) or after (adjuvant) surgery. These treatments aim to prevent the cancer from coming back.
It is becoming more widely accepted that surgery alone is not curative for the majority of lung cancer patients with early-stage or locally advanced disease. The reality is, we can hopefully improve a patient’s chance of long-term survival by combining surgery with other therapies.
At Roche, we are committed to reshaping the way we diagnose, treat and care for people with this disease. As well as our work investigating treatment approaches in early-stage lung cancer, we are partnering with the community to address ongoing challenges for patients across their entire journey, from diagnosis, and treatment initiation, to ongoing monitoring and developing new forms of treatment administration to improve treatment experience.
References
Uramoto H and Tanaka F. Recurrence after surgery in patients with NSCLC. Translational lung cancer research, 2014;3(4):242-249.
Yano, T., Okamoto, T., Fukuyama, S. and Maehara, Y., 2014. Therapeutic strategy for postoperative recurrence in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. World Journal of Clinical Oncology, 5(5), p.1048.
Cancer Research UK. Lung cancer risks becoming ‘forgotten disease’ of the coronavirus pandemic. Available from:
Blandin Knight, S., Crosbie, P.A., Balata, H., Chudziak, J., Hussell, T. and Dive, C., 2017. Progress and prospects of early detection in lung cancer. Open biology, 7(9), p.170070.