Spectacular therapy

“Armed antibodies” against lung cancer

Lung cancer is still the deadliest tumor disease worldwide.

(Bild: SciePro/stock.adobe.com)

In Austria, around 5,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year and around 4,000 die from it each year. Around 90% are or were smokers, as reported on the occasion of World Lung Cancer Day on August 1. New treatment methods prolong life and improve quality of life.

"The treatment of this potentially fatal disease has developed rapidly in recent years. Targeted therapies and modern immunotherapy have enormously improved survival times and quality of life," emphasizes OA Dr. Maximilian Hochmair, head of the ÖGP (Austrian Society of Pneumology) expert group for pneumological oncology.

Continuously improving treatments for patients
New approaches and combinations of different therapies are constantly being added. The chances of a cure are also improving - depending on the stage of the disease and the type of tumor. Thanks to intensive research, many lung cancer therapies that were previously only used in late stages can now be used in early stages and further improve the treatment outcome for patients.

Therapies that were previously only available in scientific studies are now accessible to all patients

OA Dr. Maximilian Hochmair,

Bild: wildbild

Targeted chemotherapy
Dr. Hochmair cites antibody-drug conjugates, also known as "targeted chemotherapy", as an example of spectacular therapeutic approaches: Here, a laboratory-produced antibody molecule that is "tuned" to a specific target on the tumor is "loaded" with a chemotherapeutic agent (cytostatic) ("armed antibodies"). This allows the chemotherapy to have a targeted effect on the tumor while sparing healthy cells.

"We now know of almost 50 different types of lung cancer, each of which has to be treated differently. Today, we combine all the therapeutic options available to us and are constantly improving our 'fine-tuning'," explains Dr. Hochmair. For patients, this means They can benefit more and more from these new, less stressful and effective forms of treatment.