(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)
By Nancy Lapid
Aug 28 (Reuters) – We also report on an analysis that confirms the importance of taking your blood pressure meds on schedule.
YOUNGER LUNG CANCER PATIENTS HAVE MORE TARGETABLE TUMORS
Younger adults with non-small cell lung cancer are significantly more likely than older patients to have tumors with genetic mutations that can be matched to targeted therapies, a large international study found.
Analyzing genomic and immune data from 14,246 patients, researchers found nearly 58% of younger patients had guideline-recommended actionable mutations, compared with about 45% of patients age 55 and older.
The study supports broader use of comprehensive genomic profiling, especially for younger adults diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common type of lung cancer. Testing can help doctors identify whether a tumor has a genetic driver that may respond to a targeted therapy.
Younger patients were more likely to have alterations in ALK, ROS1 and EGFR genes — mutations for which there are well-established targeted therapies that can produce dramatic and durable responses.
Older patients’ tumors were more likely to have KRAS-related changes, which have historically been harder to target, and a higher tumor mutational burden, meaning the cancer carried more mutations overall, the study found.
Researchers also found age-related differences in immune markers that are possible targets for future immunotherapy strategies.
The findings point to a gradual shift in tumor biology with age, not a hard divide between younger and older patients, the researchers said.
“By better understanding how tumors change across the lifespan, we can continue refining how we interpret biomarkers, develop new therapies and personalize treatment strategies for patients with lung cancer,” study leader Dr. Chinmay Jani of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine said in a statement.
Jani expects to report his team’s findings next month in Seoul at the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer.
DON’T SKIP BLOOD PRESSURE PILL DOSES
Blood pressure-lowering medications help prevent heart attacks and strokes, but only in patients who take them on schedule, a large analysis of past studies found.
“Our results reinforce the saying that ‘drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them,’” study leader Qianqian Yang from the University of Oxford said in a statement.
“Patients with lower adherence derived little or no cardiovascular benefit, whereas those with higher adherence had greater reductions in blood pressure and prevention of cardiovascular events,” said Yang, who presented the findings at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Munich.
Her team analyzed data on 91,339 participants in nine previous trials of new antihypertensive regimens.
The incidence of major cardiovascular events — stroke, heart attack, clogged coronary arteries, and heart failure causing death or hospitalization — was reduced by 11% in participants who took at least 80% of their assigned treatment.
Those who took less than 80% saw no heart risk reduction.
Strategies that help improve adherence should be promoted, such as simplifying regimens, using single-pill combo drugs to reduce the medication burden and using longer-acting agents where the effect of an occasional missed dose is less, the researchers said.
“For years, we have neglected non-adherence to medication as a cause for uncontrolled hypertension,” said Professor Felix Mahfoud of University Hospital Basel and chair of the ESC Communication Committee, who was not involved in the study.
“Assessment of adherence should become a routine part of hypertension care so patients do not miss out on life-saving benefits.”
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(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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