STAT+: Novocure’s electric fields device prolongs survival in lung cancer, but doubts remain
Oncologists accustomed to treating cancer with medicines have been slow to turn to electric fields to disrupt cancer cells. Will new data change that?
CHICAGO — A medical device made by Novocure that creates electric fields in the lungs via wearable skin patches extended the survival of patients with lung cancer in a clinical trial, researchers reported Monday.
The findings could lead to a new approval for the device, called Optune, beyond its current marketing clearance to treat a type of brain cancer. Delivering additional sales, however, could be a significant challenge.
Novocure’s study achieved its primary goal and showed a survival benefit for patients with lung cancer that progressed following initial chemotherapy. But those data don’t fit the current medical practice for patients with lung cancer because nearly 70% of study participants didn’t receive initial treatment with an immune checkpoint inhibitor such as Merck’s Keytruda, which has come to dominate current therapy.
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