In the United States, lung cancer causes more fatalities than any other type of cancer. It accounted for more than 26 percent of cancer mortality in 2016. Lung cancers remain difficult to detect early and treat, meaning patients with lung cancer have a much lower overall chance of surviving five years following diagnosis compared to patients with other prevalent cancers like those affecting the colon or breast.
However, researchers continue to make progress in the effort to discover effective lung cancer treatments. Among the most promising lines of lung cancer treatment, immunotherapy seeks to recruit the body’s own immune system in the fight against lung cancer cells. A number of new immunotherapy drugs on the market encourage the immune system to respond. As an example, several drugs work by suppressing a specific proteins that prevent immune cells from attacking non-small cell lung cancer.