🫁 Lung/Head and Neck — 2026-W36

What this page is. Every paper the week's monitor reviewed — including the ones that did not go into the digest. Material marked “Not selected” was reviewed and deliberately left out. It has not been fact-checked to digest standard and is not endorsed. For the curated read, see the digest itself.

Phase 3 randomized trial (KEYNOTE-671) reporting 5-year follow-up of perioperative pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in resectable NSCLC, published in Annals of Oncology. Confirms durable event-free and overall survival benefit without quality-of-life detriment, reinforcing this regimen as standard of care in early-stage NSCLC.

Randomized phase 3 trial in older patients with locally advanced NSCLC undergoing chemoradiotherapy, published in Lung Cancer. Weekly carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel failed to show non-inferiority to daily low-dose carboplatin and the trial was stopped early for futility, reaffirming daily low-dose carboplatin as standard in this population.

Phase 3 noninferiority RCT in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, published in JNCI. Weekly cisplatin met noninferiority for locoregional control versus standard 3-weekly cisplatin with concurrent radiation, with less toxicity, supporting weekly dosing as an acceptable alternative.

Phase 3 randomized trial in EGFR-mutant NSCLC progressing after third-generation EGFR-TKI therapy, published in Lancet Oncology. Tests adding ivonescimab to chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone, potentially defining a new post-TKI treatment option in this setting.

Updated phase III RCT (AEGEAN) in resectable NSCLC, published in JCO, reporting continued event-free survival benefit and numerical improvements in disease-free and overall survival with perioperative durvalumab plus neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Supports durvalumab as a standard perioperative option in resectable NSCLC.

Phase 3 randomized trial in unresectable stage III NSCLC, published in Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, testing addition of the TIGIT inhibitor ociperlimab and/or tislelizumab to concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus standard durvalumab consolidation. Trial was terminated early; results inform whether TIGIT-based combinations add benefit over current standard-of-care chemoradiation plus immunotherapy.

Retrospective real-world cohort study using a US clinico-genomic database in advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC treated with front-line osimertinib, published in Lung Cancer. Shows that L858R mutation and TP53 co-mutation are independent prognostic markers of worse survival, potentially useful for risk-stratifying patients but not changing treatment selection.

Multicohort analysis (including secondary analysis of the RTOG-0617 phase III trial plus two real-world chemoradiotherapy cohorts) in locally advanced NSCLC, published in Annals of Oncology, showing incidental thymic radiation dose is associated with higher distant metastasis risk. Suggests thymic sparing could be considered in radiotherapy planning for NSCLC, relevant to multidisciplinary management alongside systemic therapy.

Secondary/exploratory analysis reporting safety and quality-of-life outcomes from the phase 3 ALINA trial of adjuvant alectinib versus chemotherapy in resected ALK-positive NSCLC, published in Lancet Oncology. Supports the tolerability and patient-reported experience of adjuvant alectinib, reinforcing but not changing the prior disease-free survival findings that established this as standard of care.

Large multicentre phase 1 trial of a novel nectin-4-directed antibody-drug conjugate in pretreated advanced solid tumors including NSCLC and HR+/HER2- breast cancer, published in Lancet Oncology. Establishes safety, dosing, and preliminary activity for a new ADC that may inform future development in these tumor types.

Phase I/II trial in platinum- and immunotherapy-resistant recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, published in Journal of Clinical Oncology, testing an EGFR-directed antibody-drug conjugate plus a PD-1 inhibitor. Shows durable, high response rates in a heavily pretreated population with no standard options, suggesting a promising new combination approach.

Large real-world registry analysis (ESME database, France) of treatment patterns and outcomes in advanced/metastatic NSCLC and SCLC, published in Lung Cancer. Documents the shift to immunotherapy-based first-line treatment and provides contemporary survival benchmarks to contextualize clinical practice.

Multicenter retrospective cohort study in Lung Cancer examining outcomes of adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy after SCLC transformation in EGFR-mutant NSCLC. Suggests a potential survival benefit with immunotherapy addition, though based on small numbers, offering a practice-informing signal for this rare resistance scenario.

Single-arm, open-label phase IIb trial of the EGFR-TKI sutetinib in treatment-naive NSCLC patients with uncommon EGFR mutations, published in Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Provides prospective efficacy/safety data in a molecularly defined subgroup with limited prior evidence, potentially informing first-line TKI choice pending further validation.

Large retrospective cohort study of US oncology practice records describing real-world adoption of adjuvant/neoadjuvant immunotherapy and targeted therapy in resected stage IB-IIIA NSCLC, published in Lung Cancer (Q2). Shows increasing uptake of immunotherapy and osimertinib over time along with associated survival outcomes, informing understanding of how new approvals are being integrated into practice.

Multicenter retrospective analysis of transformed small-cell lung cancer arising from EGFR-mutant NSCLC, published in Lung Cancer, characterizing genomic predictors and comparing post-transformation treatment regimens. Suggests taxane-based later-line therapy may outperform other regimens, offering practical guidance for this resistance pattern.

Single-arm phase 2 basket trial of T-DM1 in HER2-amplified advanced solid tumors (including lung, colorectal, and endometrial cohorts), published in Clinical Cancer Research. Shows variable response rates across tumor types, suggesting potential for HER2-directed therapy in select HER2-amplified cancers outside breast/gastric, though responses were modest in most non-salivary cohorts.

Single-arm, non-randomized phase 2 window-of-opportunity trial of a single neoadjuvant PD-L1 blockade dose in resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, published in J Immunother Cancer. Reports pathological response rates and systemic immune/myeloid biomarker dynamics that may inform future neoadjuvant immunotherapy strategies but does not itself change standard care.

Translational study using patient tissue correlations, cell culture, and mouse models in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, published in Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. Identifies LARS2-driven mitochondrial reprogramming as a mechanism of immune evasion and shows leucine supplementation may enhance anti-PD-1 efficacy, suggesting a potential future combination strategy pending clinical validation.