The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has today [20th November] recommended a new treatment regime for people with non-small cell lung cancer who are undergoing surgery and have a high risk of recurrence.
The combination of treatments will see patients given the immunotherapy, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with platinum-based chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant) and then pembrolizumab alone after surgery (adjuvant).
Previously, the standard treatment was nivolumab with chemotherapy, then surgery.
The recommendation comes after evidence from clinical trials demonstrated that, compared with a placebo, the new treatment regime decreases the likelihood of an event that would stop people having surgery (e.g. the cancer getting worse) and the cancer coming back after surgery.
It also shows that people having pembrolizumab live longer than those having placebo.
Paula Chadwick, chief executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “Today’s announcement is another demonstration of the progress and improvements we are making to successfully treat lung cancer.
“Every new treatment provides further hope to everyone living with lung cancer and takes us a step closer to our goal of a world where no one dies of lung cancer.”
Stop lung cancer coming back
The evidence presented from the pembrolizumab clinical trials reduced the chance of a person’s cancer coming back.
There are also some lifestyle changes a person can do to reduce the risk of their lung cancer returning:
- Stop smoking
- Reduce exposure to air pollution, radon gas and other harmful chemicals
- Staying active and exercising regularly.
The risk of lung cancer returning is dependent on many factors. This can include the type of lung cancer, its stage at diagnosis and how it was treated.
People who are diagnosed with lung cancer are closely monitored for many years after surgery. Typically, people are scanned every 3-6 months in the first few years post treatment. This allows us to detect any recurrence as early as possible.
If you have any questions about today’s recommendation, or are worried about lung cancer recurrence, please contact our lung cancer nurses on 0800 358 7200 or lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org.
