Professor Park Cheol-gyu of Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital, Best Academic Paper Award from the Korean Society of Lung Cancer

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Professor Park Cheol-gyu of the Department of Pulmonology at Hwasun Jeonnam National University Hospital received the Best Academic Paper Award at the ‘2021 Korean Society of Lung Cancer Spring Academic Conference.’

According to Hwasun Jeonnam National University Hospital on the 4th, Professor Park published a paper titled “Therapeutic Effect of Osimertinib as First-Line Therapy in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Confirmed with Active EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) Mutations in Circulating Tumor Nucleic Acids” in the academic journal ‘Cancer Research and Treatment,’ jointly published by the Korean Society of Lung Cancer and the Korean Cancer Association, and received the Best Academic Paper Award.

Osimertinib, a third-generation EGFR inhibitor, is a targeted anticancer drug effective against both EGFR T790M resistance mutations and active EGFR mutations.

Tumor tissue biopsy is necessary for lung cancer diagnosis and mutation detection, but due to the nature of lung cancer, tissue biopsy is often impossible or carries a high risk of complications.

Therefore, liquid biopsy using circulating tumor nucleic acids (ctDNA) in the blood to detect active and resistance EGFR mutations is being used as a leading method in the field of solid tumors for selecting targeted anticancer drugs for lung cancer patients. However, there have been issues with detection rates and reproducibility varying between medical institutions.

In this paper, Professor Park conducted research to verify the utility of blood ctDNA liquid biopsy tailored to the domestic clinical environment and to expand the options for choosing osimertinib as first-line therapy.

The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technique was used to detect active EGFR mutations. The sensitivity of ctDNA testing compared to lung tissue was 74%. Among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer confirmed with active EGFR mutations in ctDNA who received osimertinib as first-line therapy, the treatment response rate was 68%, median progression-free survival was 11.1 months, and median duration of response was 17.6 months, showing excellent results.

Professor Park stated, “It is meaningful that the excellent therapeutic effect of osimertinib as first-line therapy was demonstrated even in patients with mutations detected in blood, who are known to have relatively poor treatment outcomes and prognosis, as well as in elderly patients in Korea (median age 70) who are difficult to include in clinical studies, and in patients with active brain metastases (79%).”

Meanwhile, the Korean Society of Lung Cancer selects outstanding academic papers related to lung cancer published in the journal ‘Cancer Research and Treatment’ through peer review and awards them annually at the Spring Academic Conference. Among the three papers selected as excellent this year, Professor Park’s paper was chosen as the Best Academic Paper. Professor Park also received an academic award at the 2019 Spring Academic Conference.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.