Suresh Ramalingam
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with close to 1.8 million people dying from it each year. Even as treatment options have improved, they have been largely ineffective for patients with mutations in a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). 'Early on in my career, we identified this EGFR pathway as one therapeutic opportunity to improve cancer outcomes,' says Ramalingam.
In the recent study, Ramalingam found that people with Stage III lung cancer who had EGFR mutations had an 84% lower risk of cancer progression or death when they took a drug called osimertinib after chemoradiation. 'There was a significant night-and-day difference in outcomes, and that has already resulted in [the Sept. 2024] FDA approval of osimertinib for Stage III disease' in people with these mutations whose cancers could not be surgically removed, says Ramalingam. 'To see a trial with this level of impact was truly a pleasant surprise for us,' he says.
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