Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, contributing to 13% (≈ 1.8 million cases) of the total new cancer cases diagnosed in 2012.1 In the United States, it has been estimated that in 57% of patients, lung cancer at diagnosis is already metastatic, which carries a 5-year survival rate of only 4%.2

Approximately 85% to 90% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), mainly manifesting as nonsquamous cell carcinoma (e.g. adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma) or squamous cell carcinoma.3 Patients with squamous cell carcinoma have limited treatment options, as some of the currently approved agents are indicated only for patients with nonsquamous histology, and some mutations that are targetable with currently approved agents are rare in patients with squamous histology.4-8

In addition, the median age at diagnosis of lung cancer is 70 years in the United States,2 and many elderly patients are undertreated for a number of reasons and are often underrepresented in clinical trials.9 Taken together, these issues highlight the need for more effective treatment options in patients with NSCLC.



  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. World Health Organization. GLOBOCAN 2012.
  2. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.
  3. American Cancer Society.
  4. Avastin (bevacizumab) [package insert]. South San Francisco, CA: Genentech, Inc; 2014.
  5. Avastin (bevazicumab) [summary of product characteristics]. Grenzach-Wyhlen, Germany: Roche Pharma AG; 2015.
  6. Alimta (pemetrexed) [package insert]. Indianapolis, IN: Lilly USA, LLC; 2013.
  7. Alimta (pemetrexed) [summary of product characteristics]. Fegersheim, France: Lilly France SAS; 2014.
  8. Paik PK, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2012;30(suppl) [abstract 7505].
  9. Quoix E. Drugs Aging. 2011;28:885-894. PMID: 22054229