The results were unveiled in Chicago at the largest annual conference of cancer specialists, hosted by the American Society for Clinical Oncology .Lung cancer is the form of the disease that causes the most deaths, with approximately 1.8 million fatalities every year worldwide.The treatment developed by the pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca is called osimertinib and is marketed under the name Tagrisso.
After five years, 88 percent of patients who took the treatment were still alive, compared to 78 percent of patients who took the placebo.These data are 'impressive,' said Roy Herbst of Yale University, who presented them in Chicago. The drug helps 'prevent the cancer from spreading to the brain, to the liver, to the bones,' he added at a press conference.About a third of cases of non-small cell cancers can be operated on when detected, he said.