The evolution of diagnosis and treatment of advanced nonsmall‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has led to increasing the use of targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. The study goal was to assess the effect of molecular testing and the introduction of new therapies on overall survival (OS). All patients with stage IV NSCLC referred to BC Cancer were included in the study. Four 1‐year time cohorts were created based on molecular testing implementation and funded drug availability: C1 baseline (2009), C2 EGFR TKI access (2011), C3 ALK inhibitor access (2015), C4 immunotherapy availability (2017). Baseline demographics, disease characteristics, and systemic therapy details were collected retrospectively. OS was calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared using the log‐rank test. There were 3421 patients identified with stage IV NSCLC and 1319 (39%) received systemic therapy. In the four 1‐year time cohorts C1/C2/C3/C4: driver mutation‐targeted treatment increased 1/17/27/34% (of total systemic therapy), as did treatment with any line immunotherapy <1/1/9/38%. Median OS with best supportive care (BSC) was 3.4/3.1/3.2/2.9 m (p = 0.16) and with systemic treatment 9.9/10.9/13.9/15.0 m (p < 0.001). Median OS by treatment exposure was BSC 3.1 m, chemotherapy only 7.3 m, targeted therapy 17.5 m, and immunotherapy 20.7 m. In our real‐world study, following the introduction of targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors, there was a significant improvement in OS in each successive time cohort concordant with advancements in therapeutic options.

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Introduction: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a rapidly progressing aggressive malignancy. Durvalumab in CASPIAN and atezolizumab in IMPower133 were found to improve overall survival (OS) for extensive-stage SCLC. Here we evaluate the proportion of real-world ES SCLC patients who may be eligible for first-line immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) with platinum doublet.Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted of referred ES SCLC between 2015 and 2017 in British Columbia, Canada. Patient demographics, staging, treatment, and survival data were collected through the Cancer Registry. Retrospective chart review was completed to extract past medical history and missing variables. CASPIAN/IMPower133 excluded patients with autoimmune diseases, active infection, and performance status (PS) ≥2.Results: Between 2015 and 2017, 349 patients were diagnosed with ES SCLC. In patients who received platinum-doublet chemotherapy (n=227), 15 had medical contraindication to ICI: inflammatory bowel disease (n=4), rheumatoid arthritis (n=4), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (n=3), lupus (n=1), Sjogren's (n=1), Takayasu arteritis (n=1), and active tuberculosis (n=1). ECOG PS was 0-1 in 96 (45%), PS was 2 in 61 (29%), and ≥3 in 51 (10%). Prior to cycle 1, 82 (36%) patients were eligible for ICI in addition to platinum doublet, 23% of the entire ES population. After cycles 1 and 2, additional 15 (7%) and 8 (4%) patients became PS 0-1, respectively. mOS for ES SCLC who received first-line platinum doublet, non-platinum chemotherapy, and best supportive care was 8.4 1.9 and 1.5 months (p<0.001).Discussion: By CASPIAN/IMpower133 trial eligibility, only 36% of our real-world platinum-treated patients would have been eligible for the addition of ICI, which is 23% of the entire ES population in one Canadian province. After one or two cycles of chemotherapy, an additional 11% of patients showed PS improvement to 0-1. While the results of CASPIAN/IMpower133 are Frontiers in Oncology frontiersin.org 01

Objectives: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver tumour worldwide and is increasing in incidence. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of HCC among Omani patients, along with its major risk factors, outcomes and the role of surveillance. Methods: This retrospective case-series study was conducted between January 2008 and December 2015 at the three main tertiary care hospitals in Oman. All adult Omani patients diagnosed with HCC and visited these hospitals during the study period were included. Relevant data were collected from the patients’ electronic medical records. Results: A total of 284 HCC patients were included in the analysis. The mean age was 61.02 ± 11.41 years and 67.6% were male. The majority had liver cirrhosis (79.9%), with the most common aetiologies being chronic hepatitis C (46.5%) and B (43.2%). Only 13.7% of cases were detected by the HCC surveillance programme. Approximately half of the patients (48.5%) had a single liver lesion and 31.9% had a liver tumour of >5 cm in size. Approximately half (49.2%) had alpha-fetoprotein levels of ≥200 ng/mL. The majority (72.5%) were diagnosed using multiphase computed tomography alone. Less than half of the patients (48.9%) were offered one or more HCC treatment modalities. Conclusion: The majority of Omani HCC patients were male and had cirrhosis due to viral hepatitis. In addition, few patients were identified by the national surveillance programme and presented with advanced disease precluding therapeutic or even palliative treatment.Keywords: Hepatocellular Carcinoma; Liver Cirrhosis; Human Viral Hepatitis; Public Health Surveillance; Early Detection of Cancer; Alpha-Fetoprotein; Oman.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide among both men and women. Although advances in therapy have been made, the 5-year survival rates for lung cancer remain poor, ranging from 10% to 20%. One of the main reasons is late presentation, as only 25% of patients are amenable to cure at the time of presentation. Therefore, the emphasis on lung cancer screening (LCS) is growing with the current evidence that has shown benefits with low-dose computed tomography scan of the chest in high-risk populations. LCS remains a debated topic in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, possibly due to a lack of local experience. In this article, we explore the rationale and give recommendations on the best approach for LCS in GCC.