What the trial was testing
The AURA3 enrolled 419 patients with lung cancer. The study was sponsored by AstraZeneca and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
Osimertinib held cancer in check for 10.1 months on average versus 4.4 months for platinum-based chemotherapy — and with significantly fewer severe side effects.
New England Journal of Medicine · 2017 · NCT02151981
These findings — that osimertinib more than doubled the time before cancer progression compared to platinum-based chemotherapy — were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 419 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with lung cancer, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Osimertinib (Tagrisso) is now standard of care for EGFR T790M-mutant lung cancer that has stopped responding to an earlier EGFR drug. If you have EGFR-mutant lung cancer and your cancer has progressed on erlotinib, gefitinib, or afatinib, ask your oncologist about testing for the T790M resistance mutation — if you have it, osimertinib is the proven next step.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open lung cancer trials
Dose-escalated Adaptive Radiotherapy of Thoracic Disease for Small Cell Lung Cancer
The purpose of this study is to find out what effects of using adaptive radiotherapy to deliver chest radiation has on the ability to control lung cancer and side effects.
Molecular Analysis of Oncogenes and Resistance Mechanisms in Lung Cancer
The mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to oncogene-targeted therapy can be determined from tumor tissue or tumor cell lines derived from available archival samples and/or from standard-of-care re-biopsy upon suspected tumor progression.