In a nutshell This study examined the effects of antibiotics or proton pump inhibitor (PPI) drugs on treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The authors found that both antibiotics and PPIs reduced the effectiveness of biological therapy but not chemotherapy. Some background Not all patients with NSCLC respond to...
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In a nutshell This study examined if certain immunotherapy drugs increased the risk of developing side effects in the gut in patients with cancer also receiving chemotherapy. The results showed that immunotherapy drugs increased the risks of developing gut-related side effects compared to chemotherapy alone. Some background Immunotherapy drugs that...
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In a nutshell This study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of an experimental treatment, lurbinectedin, in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) after unsuccessful treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy. The authors found that this treatment showed promising effectiveness and manageable side effects in these...
Read MoreIn a nutshell This study compared if anti-PD-1 biological drugs were more effective alone or when used with other drugs to treat patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who had previously received treatment. The results showed that the combination of anti-PD-1 and other drugs such as chemotherapy improved patients’ survival more than...
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In a nutshell This study examined the effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) given as a preventative measure in patients with high- and medium-risk cancer receiving chemotherapy. The results showed that preventative G-CSF allowed more patients to complete chemotherapy treatment and lowered patients’ chances of developing secondary...
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In a nutshell This study compared the long-term effects of biological drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with chemotherapy drug docetaxel (Taxotere) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The study found that pembrolizumab increased survival and had fewer side effects than docetaxel. Some background Patients with advanced...
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In a nutshell This study wanted to compare the side effects of immunotherapy and those of chemotherapy for lung cancer. The study found that immunotherapy was associated with fewer side effects than treatment with chemotherapy. Some background Standard treatment for cancer included chemotherapies. These include drugs that attack and kill cancer cells....
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In a nutshell This study wanted to find out if pembrolizumab (Keytruda) treatment works in patients with small-cell lung cancer who have received at least two other types of cancer treatment before. The study found that treatment with pembrolizumab was effective and well tolerated in these patients. Some background Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC)...
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In a nutshell This study examined the safety and effectiveness of osimertinib (Tagrisso) compared to other targeted therapies for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The authors concluded that osimertinib improved patient survival. Some background NSCLC accounts for the majority of lung cancers. Some...
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In a nutshell This study evaluated the patient-reported outcomes after treatment with durvalumab (Imfinzi) for stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that cannot be surgically removed. This study concluded that durvalumab did not affect the quality of life of these patients. Some background NSCLC is the most common form of lung cancer...
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In a nutshell This study wanted to find out if using two kinds of medication together worked better than only one medication to treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer that has not been treated before. The study found that using ramucirumab (Cyramza) with erlotinib (Tarceva) was better than using erlotinib alone. Some background There are a number...
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By Steve Gillman What my cancer taught me about medical “evidence” and how much is enough I exaggerate. My oncologist probably does believe humans need food, but I suspect the belief makes him uncomfortable, since no double-blind studies have been done to prove it. Like many doctors, his general approach to treatment is that if something hasn’t been...
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