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
Prophylactic Inhaled Steroids to Reduce Radiation Pneumonitis Frequency and Severity in Lung Cancer Patients
This randomized clinical study aims to assess whether prophylactic treatment with inhaled steroids in patients with locally advanced or concomitantly treated non-small cell lung carcinoma who are candidates for combination treatment with QT/RT or IMT + QT/RT. The main questions it aims to answer are: Whether prophylactic treatment decreases the severity of NPR on CTCAE v4.0 and RTOG scales. Whether inhaled steroid use modifies the response to radiation therapy treatment compared to patients who do not receive prophylactic inhaled steroids.
The Level of Patient Participation in Lung and Esophageal Cancer Patients Treated With Definitive Radiochemotherapy.
This study aims to assess the level of participation of thoracic cancer patients undergoing definitive radiotherapy and chemotherapy ± immunotherapy in their medical processes and the association between the level of participation and patients' side effects, quality of life, and long-term survival. Additionally, this study will rate the level of participation from both the patients' and medical staff's perspectives and will compare the differences in ratings from these two viewpoints, as well as their impact on treatment outcomes.