After you’ve received a lung cancer diagnosis, your oncologist should immediately order genetic sequencing of your tumor. This technology can search for hundreds of different genetic mutations including those that are common in lung cancer and for which new, highly effective and much less toxic treatments are available.
These drugs can produce dramatic regression of the tumor in a matter of weeks when they are given to patients whose cancers result from specific genetic mutations. For instance, lung cancers that produce high levels of PD-L1 are 50 percent more likely to have a dramatic response to drugs that block PD-L1. And when these drugs are combined with other drugs that tweak the immune system, the results can be even better.
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