Dr. Kris Discusses ASCO 2012 Lung Cancer Information

Mark G. Kris, MD, chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the lung cancer information and data that was presented at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

Kris believes that although multiple studies were presented at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting, one single study was not a huge breakthrough. However, he adds that when all of the studies are taken together they represent a very important fundamental change for the care of patients with lung cancer.

The most important advance that was highlighted in the studies was the explosion in the understanding of the molecular basis of lung cancer. This information has helped to further define the prognosis and course of each subtype of lung cancer and may potentially lead to the identification of novel targeted therapies.

While chemotherapy has offered multiple benefits to some patients, most do not benefit or will only benefit for a short time. Because of this, the transition towards targeted therapies has provided tremendous changes and benefits for the treatment of patients with lung cancer.