In some non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), changes to the RET gene (known as RET fusions) can drive tumor growth. In a phase 1/2 clinical study with a 42-month-long follow-up period, researchers from Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of the FDA-approved drug pralsetinib, which targets RET. Investigators found that treatment led to durable responses with manageable safety profiles in 281 patients with advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive NSCLCs. Results are published in Journal of Clinical Oncology.

To help protect Americans from colorectal cancer, which is now the leading cause of cancer death for people under 50, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a legal petition today urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to require warning labels on processed meat and poultry products, such as bacon, deli meat, and hot dogs, which have been classified as “carcinogenic to humans” because of their link to colorectal cancer.

Immunotherapies have transformed cancer treatment by helping the immune system recognize and attack tumors. They work for only about 20% of patients, though, and doctors still struggle to predict who will benefit.

A Rutgers Cancer Institute study in Cell Reports Medicine promises help with both those problems. It identifies a protein that appears to predict drug response, and it shows that pairing immunotherapy with a second type of drug dramatically improves survival in mice.

As lung cancer screening identifies an estimated 1.6 million suspicious lung nodules each year in the U.S. alone, physicians face a challenge. Most peripheral pulmonary lesions are benign, yet the malignant minority represent the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women. Robotic bronchoscopy may provide a less invasive and more precise approach to diagnosing lung cancer, suggests a five-year, multisite Mayo Clinic study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.