Health

Lung cancer combo cuts risk of progression 45% in hard-to-treat tumors, ESMO trial shows

Madrid, Spain • October 26, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Editorial illustration: a scientist reviewing lung scans in a bright modern laboratory

Editorial illustration — Press Pass USA

An all-oral drug combination cut the risk of disease progression or death by 45% in patients with a hard-to-treat form of lung cancer, according to phase 3 results presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in Madrid and published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The SAFFRON trial tested savolitinib (ORPATHYS) combined with osimertinib (TAGRISSO) against chemotherapy in patients whose tumors carried high levels of MET overexpression or amplification and had already progressed on osimertinib, the standard third-generation EGFR targeted therapy. MET-driven resistance is one of the most common ways these cancers escape treatment.

Median progression-free survival, as assessed by blinded independent central review, was 7.6 months with the combination versus 5.4 months with chemotherapy, a hazard ratio of 0.55. An estimated 36% of patients on the combination were progression-free at one year, compared with 10% on chemotherapy, and the benefit was consistent across prespecified subgroups.

Overall survival also favored the combination: median survival was 17.8 months versus 12.9 months, a 32% reduction in the risk of death (hazard ratio 0.68). An estimated 70% of patients treated with the combination were alive at one year, compared with 53% in the chemotherapy group.

The results were presented during the congress's Presidential Symposium, the meeting's premier stage, underscoring their significance for a group of patients who, after osimertinib stops working, have historically had few effective options beyond chemotherapy. The combination offers an oral alternative to intravenous chemotherapy for this population.

HUTCHMED, which developed savolitinib, described the data as validating the combination as a landmark all-oral strategy for MET-driven resistance after third-generation EGFR therapy. Regulatory filings and further follow-up will determine when the regimen becomes available to patients outside the trial.

Sources: HUTCHMED / GlobeNewswire (Oct 26, 2026); The New England Journal of Medicine (2026); ESMO Congress 2026, Presidential Symposium (abstract LBA6).