Testing Early & Often Recommended for Patients With Lung Cancer
Alexander Spira, MD, PhD, shares an important message with community oncologists regarding the treatment of patients with lung cancer.
Alexander Spira, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and director of the Virginia Cancer Specialists Research Institute and the Phase 1 Trial Program, shares an important message with community oncologists regarding the treatment of patients with lung cancer.
Test, test, test, says Spira. In order to better treat these patients, physicians need to test advanced patients more appropriately. It’s very challenging to do, Spira admits, but if tests aren’t completed, physicians won’t detect mutations that might alter their treatment plan.
Spira says he can’t speak to how many patients have had a mutation that nobody picked up on, which is why it is so important to test. There are so many new treatments coming down the pike, with new opportunities for these patients with advanced lung cancer. Patients should be enrolling to clinical trials, which is another important thing to do for this patient population, Spira says.
