PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Immunotherapy before surgery improves lung cancer survival in global clinical trial led by Irish cancer specialist

Study shows that the use of immunotherapy with chemotherapy before lung cancer surgery reduces the risk of cancer returning and improves long term survival

2025-06-02
(Press-News.org)

Results from a phase 3 clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, today (June 2nd) show that patients with lung cancer who received an immunotherapy drug, nivolumab, along with standard chemotherapy before surgery had improved long term survival compared to those who received chemotherapy alone, at 5 years after completing treatment.  Prof. Patrick Forde of the Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI), Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine presented the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago at the weekend. Prof. Forde led the CheckMate 816 trial which enrolled 358 patients globally who were diagnosed with the most common type of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), at a stage where it could be removed by surgery. However, despite undergoing surgery >50% of patients with stage 2 or 3 lung cancer will eventually have relapse of their cancer. Immunotherapy drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors, in particular those that block a receptor called PD-1, have led to improved survival for patients with advanced cancers by unmasking the tumour to the patient’s immune system.  However, up until now, no study had shown long-term benefit to this treatment in helping to cure earlier stage lung cancer.

Earlier in his career as an oncologist at Johns Hopkins in the United States Prof. Forde led the first clinical trial of immunotherapy prior to surgery (neoadjuvant therapy) for lung cancer which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018.  That study showed that among 20 patients who underwent surgery after 2 doses of immunotherapy almost half had little or no remaining cancer at the time of their operation.

In an earlier report of the CheckMate 816 trial, patients with lung cancer who received immunotherapy along with chemotherapy prior to surgery were more likely to have had their cancer eliminated completely by the time of surgery and also had lower rates of cancer relapse. Side effects were not increased with the addition of immunotherapy and in general surgeries went well. These findings led to the approval of the neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy in several countries globally, including as a standard treatment for eligible patients in Ireland. 

In the latest update from the trial patients who received immunotherapy plus chemotherapy before surgery were approximately 10% more likely to be alive at 5 years than those who just received chemotherapy. Among the 24% of patients treated with immunotherapy plus chemotherapy who had no cancer remaining at the time of surgery, known as a pathologic complete response, no patient had died from lung cancer by 5 years. 

Prof. Forde is also co-leading an international clinical trial open in Ireland at TSJCI, Beaumont, Galway and Mater Hospitals that is aimed at further improving outcomes for patients undergoing surgery. Results from part of this study were also published this week in the prestigious Nature Medicine journal. In the NeoCOAST-2 trial, patients who received standard chemo-immunotherapy plus a new treatment called an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) before surgery were more likely to have no viable cancer remaining at the time of surgery, suggesting that this additional treatment could improve outcomes further. 

Prof. Forde said:

“Immunotherapy has helped many patients with stage 4 lung cancer live longer with good quality of life. Until recently we have not had new treatments available that can increase the chances of cure after lung cancer surgery. The use of immunotherapy with chemotherapy before lung cancer surgery has now been shown to reduce the risk of cancer coming back and improve long term survival. Cancer clinical trials are key to improving outcomes for patients with cancer and offer the potential for early access to the latest cutting edge cancer treatments. I am delighted to be able to help expand clinical trial options for patients in Ireland.”

In 2024 Prof. Forde joined the Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI) as the Patrick Prendergast Professor of Clinical Immuno-Oncology. This position was established by a philanthropic gift from Dr. Stanley Quek, Trinity alumnus and former Pro-Chancellor of the University. In collaboration with colleagues across Ireland Prof. Forde’s goal is to improve access for patients to cutting edge cancer clinical trials.

You can read the NEJM paper, Survival with Neoadjuvant Nivolumab 3  plus Chemotherapy in Lung Cancer at the following link, when the embargo lifts: www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2502931

Ends/

 

Notes for the Editor

Patrick Forde, bio 

Patrick Forde is a consultant medical oncologist and currently holds the Prendergast Chair in Immuno-Oncology at Trinity College Dublin. He is originally from Co. Clare, attended medical school in Dublin before undertaking 7 years of medical and oncology training in Ireland. He then joined Johns Hopkins University in the United States where he rose to become Professor of Oncology and co-director of the Upper Aerodigestive Malignancies division. His research focuses on development of immunotherapy clinical trials to treat cancer and in his current role he sees patients at the Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute  in Dublin.
 

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

S2302 Pragmatica-Lung reports out as model for faster, leaner, more representative trials

2025-06-02
The SWOG S2302 Pragmatica-Lung trial, which broke new ground with its streamlined pragmatic design, unusually broad eligibility criteria, and reduced data collection, has quickly answered its primary question, finding that the investigational combination it tested did not significantly extend overall survival compared to standard of care treatments.  Importantly, the phase 3 trial’s rapid development and implementation, coupled with its successful enrollment of a group of patients broadly representative of the larger U.S. population, establish Pragmatica-Lung as a paradigm-shifting model for the design and conduct of future large randomized studies. Results will be presented ...

New Venus observation mission - World's first long-term planetary cubesat study by Korea’s Institute for Basic Science and NanoAvionics

2025-06-02
Daejeon, South Korea, and Vilnius, Lithuania, 2 June 2025 – Kongsberg NanoAvionics (NanoAvionics), a leading small satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator, has been selected by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea to build the first CubeSat for the world’s first long-term planetary science campaign which will use a series of CubeSats to monitor Venus from low Earth orbit. This long-term Venus observation initiative, the CLOVE project (Chasing the Long-term Variability of Our Nearest Neighbor Planet ...

Brain training game offers new hope for drug-free pain management

2025-06-02
A trial of an interactive game that trains people to alter their brain waves has shown promise as a treatment for nerve pain – offering hope for a new generation of drug-free treatments. The PainWaive technology, developed by UNSW Sydney researchers, teaches users how to regulate abnormal brain activity linked to chronic nerve pain, offering a potential in-home, non-invasive alternative to opioids. A recent trial of the technology, led by Professor Sylvia Gustin and Dr Negin Hesam-Shariati from UNSW Sydney’s NeuroRecovery Research Hub, has delivered promising results, published in the Journal of Pain. The study compared ...

Attachment theory: A new lens for understanding human-AI relationships

2025-06-02
Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous in this era. As a result, human-AI interactions are becoming more frequent and complex, and this trend is expected to accelerate soon. Therefore, scientists have made remarkable efforts to better understand human-AI relationships in terms of trust and companionship. However, these man-machine interactions can possibly also be understood in terms of attachment-related functions and experiences, which have traditionally been used to explain human interpersonal bonds. In an innovative work, which incorporates two pilot studies and one formal study, a group of researchers from Waseda University, Japan, including Research ...

Self-powered artificial synapse mimics human color vision

2025-06-02
As artificial intelligence and smart devices continue to evolve, machine vision is taking an increasingly pivotal role as a key enabler of modern technologies. Unfortunately, despite much progress, machine vision systems still face a major problem: processing the enormous amounts of visual data generated every second requires substantial power, storage, and computational resources. This limitation makes it difficult to deploy visual recognition capabilities in edge devices—such as smartphones, drones, or autonomous vehicles. Interestingly, the human visual system ...

Circadian preference is associated with impulsivity in adolescents

2025-06-02
DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting found that adolescents who prefer to sleep and wake up later (“night owls”) reported greater impulsivity than those who prefer to sleep and wake up earlier (“morning larks”). Results show that adolescents with self-reported evening preference, or “night owl” tendencies, reported greater negative urgency and lack of perseverance, which are two aspects of impulsivity. This means that they were more likely to act impulsively when experiencing negative emotions and quit difficult tasks. In contrast, ...

Space pebbles and rocks play pivotal role in giant planet’s formation

2025-06-02
Scientists analysing an ultra-hot giant planet believe it was formed by absorbing lightweight gases like methane evaporating from tiny space pebbles, whilst being bombarded with large rocky objects.  Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to explore the atmosphere of WASP-121b, researchers successfully detected water (H₂O), carbon monoxide (CO), and silicon monoxide (SiO) in the side facing its star or ‘dayside’. They also found methane (CH₄) in the planet’s ‘nightside’ atmosphere.   Publishing ...

Still on the right track? Researchers at the University of Graz enable reliable monitoring of the Paris climate goals

2025-06-02
In the Paris Agreement of 2015, the international community of countries agreed to limit global warming to well below 2 °C, and preferably to 1.5 °C, compared to pre-industrial levels. This refers to the increase in global surface air temperature, inspected at any time of interest as an average over 20 years. The latest IPCC report expected the 1.5 °C threshold to be reached between 2030 and 2035. Climate researcher Gottfried Kirchengast from the Wegener Center and Institute of Physics at the University of Graz now has to revise this estimate: “Our ...

Study finds coastal flooding more frequent than previously thought

2025-06-02
Flooding in coastal communities is happening far more often than previously thought, according to a new study from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study also found major flaws with the widely used approach of using marine water level data to capture instances of flooding. “Government agencies and researchers use data from tide gauges to measure water levels in coastal areas, then use that data to estimate flood frequency in the region,” says Miyuki Hino, corresponding author of a paper on the study and assistant professor of city and regional planning at UNC. “Those estimates ...

Why forests aren’t coming back after gold mining in the Amazon

2025-06-02
Forests in the Peruvian Amazon aren’t growing back after gold mining — not just because the soil is damaged from toxic metals, but because the land has been depleted of its water. A common mining method known as suction mining reshapes the terrain in ways that drain moisture and trap heat, creating harsh conditions where even replanted seedlings can’t survive. The findings, published in Communications Earth & Environment, revealed why reforestation efforts in the region have struggled. One of the study’s co-authors is Josh West, professor of Earth sciences and environmental studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “We’ve ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Young people discover the technologies shaping their future in the World Economic Forum and Frontiers for Young Minds collection

Real-time 3D visualization reveals potent antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against superbacteria

Abnormal uterine bleeding and insulin resistance are on the rise: Is there a connection?

Eye wear breakthrough: MXene-coated lenses for safer and smarter wearables

‘AI scientist’ suggests combinations of widely available non-cancer drugs can kill cancer cells

Phage therapy at a turning point: Global experts converge in Berlin to shape the future of antimicrobial medicine

Low calorie diets linked to heightened risk of depressive symptoms

Bronchiolitis, monoclonal antibody halves hospitalizations of children younger than six months old

Mum’s obesity linked to child’s heightened hospital admission risk for infection

Millions of new solar system objects to be found and ‘filmed in technicolor’ – studies predict

Pitt study has upended decades-old assumptions about brain plasticity

Hertz Foundation partners with Analog Devices to empower future leaders in analog, digital and software technology solutions

Would you hand over your health data if it meant better care?

Study examines how well wearable tech tracks fitness metrics

Dr. Nikolaos Koundouros wins 2025 Tri-Institutional Breakout Award

Low vs. High blood pressure avoidance in non-cardiac surgery: Neurocognitive outcomes unchanged

Telehealth can improve care for cats with chronic health issues

Researchers develop innovative model to study sense of smell

Birds may be drinking on the wing, but in moderation

Collaboration can unlock Australia’s energy transition without sacrificing natural capital

Study identifies proteins involved in the effectiveness of immunotherapy against blood cancer

Cannabis extract could treat fungal diseases

Pancreatic cancer spreads to liver or lung thanks to this protein

Eating an array of smaller fish could be nutrient-dense solution to overfishing

Han studying potential of next generation telepresence

Emory study finds molecular link between air pollution and pregnancy risks

Controlling bacteria with light: from tackling antibiotic resistance to “bacterial robots”

Johns Hopkins study shows how scientists can use black holes as supercolliders

Being incarcerated and living in areas where more have gone to jail is associated with higher death rates

New insights into long-term dysfunction of edited blood stem cells and how to overcome it

[Press-News.org] Immunotherapy before surgery improves lung cancer survival in global clinical trial led by Irish cancer specialist
Study shows that the use of immunotherapy with chemotherapy before lung cancer surgery reduces the risk of cancer returning and improves long term survival