Researchers are testing a new type of lung cancer treatment: inhaled gene therapy, which patients breathe in like an asthma inhaler so the medicine reaches the lungs directly.

• The U.S.-based company Krystal Biotechhas the most advanced program. Its therapy, KB707, is designed for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

• The treatment uses a modified virus to deliver genes into the lungs that activate the immune system against tumors.

• A major advantage of this approach is that the drug goes straight to the lungs, which may reduce side effects compared with systemic treatments.

• Early trial results showed that about 36% of advanced-stage patients responded to the therapy, and side effects were considered manageable.

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also granted the project a special designation to help speed up development.

• At the same time, other companies such as CorriXR Therapeuticsare developing CRISPR-based inhaled therapies aimed at disabling genes that help cancers resist treatment.

Overall, scientists hope inhaled gene therapies could become a new generation of precise, lower-side-effect treatments for lung cancer.

https://www.precisionmedicineonline.com/precision-oncology/lung-cancer-patients-take-hit-inhaled-gene-therapies-trials