Eight years on, three years of osimertinib after surgery lifts lung cancer survival to 74 percent
In ADAURA, a phase III trial of osimertinib taken for up to three years after surgery for EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer, 74 percent of stage II-IIIA patients on the drug were alive at eight years against 58 percent of those without it; across stages IB-IIIA the figures were 79 percent and 64 percent. The exploratory update, presented in Seoul and published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, is the longest survival follow-up of its kind, the IASLC says.
Science··Midday
74 percent alive at eight years, against 58 without the drug
ADAURA followed people whose EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer had been completely removed by surgery and who then took osimertinib, a targeted drug aimed at the EGFR mutation, at 80 milligrams once daily for up to three years, or went without it. In the stage II-IIIA group that formed the trial's main analysis, 74 percent of those on osimertinib were alive at eight years, compared with 58 percent without the drug; the hazard ratio for death was 0.53, which means the risk of dying over the follow-up period was roughly halved. The benefit held across the predefined subgroups and stayed consistent with the trial's earlier planned final survival analysis.[1], [2]
Nearly four in five alive across all early stages
In the full stage IB-IIIA population the eight-year survival figures were 79 percent with osimertinib and 64 percent without it, a hazard ratio of 0.52, so nearly four in five people treated with the drug after surgery were still alive. The analysis was delivered in the Presidential Symposium of the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Seoul, South Korea, and appeared in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology at the same time. Roy S. Herbst of Dartmouth Cancer Center, the trial's principal investigator, said the findings show that patients continue to see meaningful long-term benefit from early treatment with osimertinib after surgery.[1], [2]
An exploratory update to a treatment that is already standard
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), the professional body that organises the Seoul meeting, describes the update as the longest overall survival follow-up reported from a phase III trial of post-surgical treatment in this setting. The planned course of osimertinib ends after three years, so the eight-year figures track patients well beyond the end of treatment. The analysis is an exploratory eight-year landmark update rather than a new primary result, and three years of osimertinib after surgery is already the standard of care for these patients.[1]
