CHICAGO — It was the kind of moment scientists who develop new medicines wait their entire careers to experience. On Sunday, thousands of oncologists applauded after researchers presented data on AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso. When given after surgery to the right lung cancer patients, selected using genetic tests, it cut the death rate in half.
Benjamin J. Solomon of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, called to the stage at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual conference, said the result “opens up a new chapter for precision medicine with targeted therapy in early stage non-small cell lung cancer.”
Susan Galbraith, who heads AstraZeneca’s oncology research and development, was watching from the audience. “It was a great day,” she said.
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