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HEALTH
Cancer (disease)

'Extraordinary' study results offer new hope for advanced lung cancer patients being treated with immunotherapy

New studies for the first time quantify the duration and magnitude of immunotherapy drugs' benefits when combined with chemotherapy.

Karen Weintraub
USA TODAY
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Patients with advanced lung cancer had a better chance at survival when their treatment combined chemotherapy with a drug designed to turn the immune system against cancer, according to two studies released Sunday at a conference in Paris, France.

In both trials, 20% of participants who took chemotherapy plus the drug Keytruda, from Merck, survived for at least five years after their diagnosis. That's twice as long as is typical for advanced lung cancer patients.