Leading lung cancer researchers said two studies presented this week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in New Orleans may very well change the standard of care in the treatment of patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Both studies involved the use of chemotherapy following surgery in patients with early stage NSCLC at high risk for recurrence and found that the approach provided a significant survival benefit when compared with surgery alone.

"Taken together, the results of these studies show conclusively that postsurgical chemotherapy does significantly improve survival," said Dr. Scott Saxman of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The first study, conducted by the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) Clinical Trials Group, in conjunction with clinical trials groups supported by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, compared postoperative observation versus a chemotherapy regimen of cisplatin and vinorelbine.  Read more  



Report to the Nation Highlights Progress, Challenges

The annual ASCO meeting, which concluded today in New Orleans, is always an exciting time for the cancer community. Results from many significant studies are released, and researchers and clinical oncologists from the United States and many other nations learn from leading experts about changes in treatment, the latest in prevention and diagnostics, and, increasingly so these days, advances in the area of survivorship.

Thus it's an ideal time for the release of the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, a collaborative effort of the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NCI, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. This year's report, which covers data from 1975 to 2001, delivers some excellent news: Americans' risk of being diagnosed with cancer continues to decline, while survival rates for many cancers continue to improve. Overall, observed cancer incidence rates dropped 0.5 percent annually from 1993 to 2001, while death rates from all cancers dropped 1.1 percent each year during the same period.  Read more  

This NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads a national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic and clinical biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases. For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://cancer.gov. NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.