30,000 deaths per year, this is still the grim toll of lung cancer in France. Despite regular advances in its treatment, the figures for so-called "non-small cell" cancers, the most common, remain poor, with most cases unfortunately often detected at an advanced and inoperable stage.. "Even in operated patients, survival is limited," insists Professor Nicolas Girard, pulmonologist, head of the medical oncology department at the Curie Institute. Because these cancers are in fact very aggressive, their risk of relapse remains very high, with 30% to 55 % of operated patients developing a recurrence, with undetectable micrometastases sometimes being present from the time of diagnosis.
Saving time on the tumor
However, good news at ASCO 2025 with the international study called CheckMate-816 coordinated in France by Professor Girard. Simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine the same day as his presentation at ASCO, It clearly demonstrates that adding immunotherapy (nivolumab, Opdivo, BMS laboratories) before surgery reduces relapses and cures approximately 25% of patients. Here, everything happens two months before surgery, with an associated course of immunotherapy (3 intravenous injections) administered at the same time as the three cycles of chemotherapy.
Prescribing immunotherapy as early as possible is actually a strategy already discussed since 2021, the objective being obviously to gain time on the tumor. Moreover, as early as 2022, the first results of CheckMate revealed that the therapeutic combination allowed a reduction of almost 40% in the risk of recurrence. But until now, there was no formal data demonstrating that this reduction in relapses led to an increase in the number of patients cured. This is now a reality with final results communicated this year on overall survival, with 65% of patients treated with the two molecules still alive 5 years later, compared to 55 % for those who received chemotherapy alone. “ CheckMate is the pfirst phase 3 trial categorically demonstrating that neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy significantly improves overall survival in patients,” emphasizes Professor Girard.
A tumor emptied of cancer cells
On the other hand, " In 25 cases, the tumor removed by surgeons was completely emptied of tumor cells and replaced by white blood cells.“ , points out the oncologist. A considerable advantage, these patients being considered cured! Other strategies with immunotherapies administered before but also after the intervention are being studied but to date and in France, the Optivo molecule is the only immunotherapy available in France in the context of this early use called neoadjuvant. "These significant advances are a reminder that the earlier a cancer is detected, the more effective the treatment options and the higher the chances of a cure. Hence the vital importance of screening early detection of lung cancer and the implementation of initiatives to evaluate organized screening, as we are doing at the Curie Institute, through our Opti-Depist-Mut study,” insists Professor Girard.
Are you over 50, a man or a woman, a smoker or a former smoker who quit within the last 10 years and live in the Ile-de-France region? OPTI-DEPIST-MUT is made for you. Open since this year, this unique pilot study in Ile-de-France is conducted in partnership with the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris and the Centre de Santé du Square de la Mutualité, simply contact them and fill out the questionnaire here.
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