Newly developed drug helps extend the lives of lung cancer patients in trial
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A new dual-action drug, Ivonescimab, combined with chemotherapy, has shown promise in extending the lives of patients with advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
The investigational treatment works by disabling the ‘off’ switch used by tumours to evade the immune system and targeting a protein crucial for tumour growth.
A trial involving 532 patients in China found that those receiving Ivonescimab and chemotherapy lived an average of 28 months, a 15 per cent increase compared to a control group.
Experts have described these findings as a “promising step forward” for this hard-to-treat lung cancer, though further investigation is required.
While side effects were more common with the new drug, the rate of patients discontinuing treatment due to side effects remained similar across both treatment groups.
