SWITZERLAND – The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has granted a priority review for Roche’s Tecentriq treatment for people suffering with early, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the Swiss company has said.

The FDA is due to decide on approval by Dec. 1 for the use of Tecentriq as an adjuvnt treatment, where a substance is used to increase the efficacy or potency of certain drugs, Roche said.

New treatment options are urgently needed in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer to help the nearly 50% of people who currently experience a recurrence following surgery,” said Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., Roche’s Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development.

Tecentriq is the first cancer immunotherapy to show a clinically meaningful benefit in the adjuvant lung cancer setting according to officials at Roche.

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death globally. Each year 1.8 million people die as a result of the disease; this translates into more than 4,900 deaths worldwide every day.

Lung cancer can be broadly divided into two major types: NSCLC and SCLC. NSCLC is the most prevalent type, accounting for around 85% of all cases.

NSCLC comprises non-squamous and squamous-cell lung cancer, the squamous form of which is characterized by flat cells covering the airway surface when viewed under a microscope.

Tecentriq is approved in the US, EU and countries around the world, either alone or in combination with targeted therapies and/or chemotherapies in various forms of NSCLC, SCLC, certain types of metastatic urothelial cancer, in PD-L1-positive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and for hepatocellular carcinoma.

As per a report done by Market Data Forecast, the glob lung cancer therapeutics market is estimated to be worth US$9.49 billion by 2026 and is at US$6.86 billion currently. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period.

Global non-small cell lung cancer treatment market will witness robust growth primarily owing to increasing disease awareness among the population across the globe.

Favorable government regulations to reduce the cancer incidences, such as smoking control regulations, etc. will act as another significant factor driving the global market over the projected period.

Moreover, rapid approvals of various drugs such as Fluorouracil, Carboplatin, Tecentriq etc. for treating non-small cell lung cancer will further trigger the market growth.

Would you like to get regular updates of such news articles? Subscribe to our HealthCare Africa News, email newsletters, which provide the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s health, pharma and biotech industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE