A lung cancer pill reaches the place tumours hide: the brain

When lung cancer spreads to the brain, most drugs cannot follow — the brain protects itself with a barrier that keeps medicines out. Taiho Oncology and Cullinan Therapeutics reported Phase 2 results for zipalertinib, a pill for lung cancers with uncommon EGFR mutations, in patients whose disease had reached the brain: among 43 evaluable patients, tumours in the brain responded in 30.2% of cases and were controlled in 72.1%, with responses lasting a median of 9.7 months. Memorial Sloan Kettering investigator Helena Yu called the activity in the brain encouraging for a group with significant unmet need.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation