Current challenges and emerging therapeutic strategies in lung cancer care: Insights from Bridging the Gaps 2025
ABSTRACT Recent years have seen substantial advances in lung cancer management, with therapeutic options expanding rapidly through the integration of targeted therapies, immunotherapies, antibody–drug conjugates, and novel, immune‐engaging agents. Although outcomes have improved for selected patients with non–small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer, the increasing number of regimens has amplified clinical complexity, with persistent evidence gaps, limited head‐to‐head comparisons, and underrepresentation of key subgroups in trials. Emerging genomic tools and novel therapeutic modalities provide opportunities to further improve patient outcomes but also add to the challenges of clinical decision‐making. To address these issues, a multidisciplinary panel of oncology experts, primarily based in the United States, convened to review current evidence gaps, controversies, and unmet needs in the management of lung cancer. Key areas were identified in treatment selection and sequencing as well as the management of high‐risk subtypes, highlighting the need for prospective, head‐to‐head clinical trials. Findings from this panel will inform a 2026 follow‐up conference in which a modified Delphi method will be used to develop formal consensus recommendations to provide actionable guidance for practicing clinicians.
Authors
- Fawzi Abu Rous (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7458-9802)
- Eric Kumar Singhi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5918-9168)
- Heather A. Wakelee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1136-980X)
- David R. Gandara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1784-048X)
- Narjust Florez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0806-6722)
- Triparna Sen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4673-7481)
- Christine M. Bestvina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7189-1590)
- Jacob M. Sands (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4663-7464)
- Erin Lynn Schenk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9418-9948)
- Sandip Pravin Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8387-4840)
- Fred R. Hirsch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6885-1894)
- Elaine Shum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0390-5716)
- Balázs Halmos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7548-8360)
- Christine Ann Garcia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0367-7813)
- Jonathan Wesley Riess (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7370-7304)
- Ana I. Velázquez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6153-5557)
- Xiuning Le
- Tejas Patil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4389-1010)
- Percy Lee
- Jessica Donington
- Julia Rotow
- Jorge Nieva
- Solange Peters
- Jyoti Malhotra
- Joshua Sabari
- Edward S. Kim
- Ravi Salgia
- Mihaela Aldea
Institutions
- University of Southern California (US)
- City Of Hope National Medical Center (US)
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Henry Ford Health System (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Institut Gustave Roussy (FR)
- Henry Ford Hospital (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- NYU Langone Health (US)
- City of Hope (US)
- HOPE Clinic (US)
- USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (US)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
- University of Colorado Cancer Center (US)
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- University of California Davis Medical Center (US)
- Weill Cornell Medicine (US)
- Moores Cancer Center
- Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Stanford Cancer Institute
- NYU Langone’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center
- Tisch Cancer Institute
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (US)
- New York University (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cancer
- Published
- 2026-09-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.70633
- Primary Topic
- Lung Cancer Treatments and Mutations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00