World Conference on Lung Cancer Wednesday Press Conference

PD-1/PD-L1 Advancements and Interventions to Prevent and Treat Lung Cancer

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct. 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The final press conference from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) highlighted new advancements surrounding the discovery of PD-1 and PD-L1, including a discussion from the researcher credited with discovering PD-1, as well as interventions to prevent lung cancer and improve quality of life for lung cancer patients.

Innovations in lung cancer treatment linked to the discovery of PD-1
Prof. Tasuku Honjo of Japan, who was the first to identify PD-1 in 1992, shared an update on how PD-1 blockers have been widely used to treat many types of cancers. After decades of study, research into PD-1 has led to breakthrough immunotherapy treatments that are being hailed as a "penicillin moment" in cancer treatment.

"I believe that, just as a number of antibiotics developed in the wake of the discovery of penicillin now protect humans against threats of infectious diseases, this discovery will play a leading role in advancement of cancer immunotherapy," said Prof. Honjo. "In the future, the fear of dying from cancer will cease to exist."

Extensive research into combination therapy has been undertaken by a number of institutions. Specifically, Prof. Honjo felt that PD-1 blockade combinatorial therapy using mitochondrial activators, especially PGC-1(alpha) activators, may be promising.

International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Blueprint II
Dr. Fred Hirsch of the United States and Dr. Ming Tsao of Canada shared an exciting update on Phase 2 of the PD-L1 Blueprint Project.

The project began in 2014 during a workshop led by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). As a result of the workshop, the PD-L1 Blueprint Project was established, with the primary goal of comparing the PD-L1 assays used in clinical trials in terms of analytical and diagnostic performance. The consortium behind the Blueprint Project included representatives from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Merck, Genentech/Roche, AstraZeneca, Dako, Ventana and AACR, as well as the IASLC, which is coordinating the project.