This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Miriam Alexander about advances in lung cancer treatment in recent years. Dr. Alexander is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, and an oncologist specializing in lung cancer at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Treatment options for lung cancer include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and a combination of these approaches. Doctor Miriam Alexander is here to talk about advancement in lung cancer treatment in recent years. Doctor Alexander is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, and she's an oncologist specializing in lung cancer at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Doctor Alexander, what are some of the biggest breakthroughs in lung cancer treatment in recent years?
Dr. Alexander: Lung cancer kills more people per year than breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined. One of the main reasons for this is that it's often detected in the late stages, when it's less likely to be curable. Over the last few years, we have seen a decrease in the overall deaths from lung cancer, mainly due to increase in screening, smoking cessation, health literacy and very importantly, biomarker testing or molecular profiling of the cancer.
Conner: And what about the new treatments for lung cancer that are making a difference?
Dr. Alexander: The new type of therapies that have changed the treatment of lung cancer for the better are targeted therapies and immunotherapies. So targeted therapies attack cancer cells based on very unique molecular characteristics, such as genetic mutations or abnormal protein expression. And these therapies spare normal cells, making them more effective and less toxic than traditional chemotherapy. Immunotherapy trains the body's immune system to seek out and destroy only cancer cells. We have even improved the way we deliver chemotherapy by developing therapies that seek out cancer cells before delivering a powerful dose of chemotherapy to it.
Conner: And Doctor Alexander. Given all of these different approaches, treatment approaches for lung cancer, how is it that you decide what is the right thing for an individual patient with lung cancer?
Dr. Alexander: We have to use the patient's specific molecular characterization of their cancer to decide on the right therapies for them. And that's where precision medicine comes in. And that is why it is very, very important for every new diagnosis of lung cancer to get biomarker or molecular testing.
Conner: Tell us about new efforts to catch lung cancer earlier when it's most treatable.
Dr. Alexander: The National Lung Cancer Screening Trial showed a 20% reduction in lung cancer mortality with a low dose CT scan compared to chest x ray. So, with these screening techniques, the low dose CT scan identifies lung cancer at earlier stages where surgical resection and curative treatments are much more effective.
Conner: And what are some of the biggest challenges that remain in lung cancer treatment for individuals?
Dr. Alexander: The biggest challenges that remain is that many cases of lung cancer go untreated because of lack of knowledge from both patients and their providers, as well as the stigma associated with lung cancer. There's fatalism after diagnosis and the cost of treatment, so we know that more than 20% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer receive no treatment at all. So, with more education, screening to move the diagnosis to early stage, comprehensive biomarker testing to offer more precise therapies, we can continue to improve survival rates.
Conner: Doctor Alexander, thanks for this information about lung cancer treatment.
Dr. Alexander: Oh, You’re welcome Bobbi.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
