Currently, over 1,000 patients die from lung cancer every day in Europe. In 2018, it was estimated that there were more than two million new cases worldwide, representing 11.6% of all new cancers, with someone dying of lung cancer every 30 seconds globally. In the EU, lung cancer causes 267,700 deaths annually2, which is more deaths than that caused by the two most common cancers, breast and colorectal, combined. The high mortality rate is demonstrated by its dismal 5-year survival rate of just 18%, compared to 89% for breast cancer and 65% for colorectal cancer.
The effects of an aging population and rising levels of smoking in developing countries is driving increases in lung deaths, with the total number of deaths worldwide expected to increase from 1.8 million in 2017 to over 3 million in 2035. Despite recent advances in surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, 7 out of 8 patients die within 5 years of diagnosis. The problem is that ~70% of patients are diagnosed at a late stage, after the disease has already spread to other parts of the body, which makes treatment difficult. If lung cancer is found at an earlier stage, when it is small and before it has spread, it is more likely to be successfully treated.
The signs and symptoms associated with lung cancer do not do typically appear until the disease is already at an advanced stage. To combat this, screening programmes are being introduced in EU countries and is already in place in the US, to diagnose lung cancer earlier when a curative treatment may be possible. If a lesion is identified during screening, the patient is sent for a biopsy to diagnose and stage the cancer. Early stage tumours are typically located in the periphery of the lung and are 1-2cm in size, making them perfectly suited to a targeted treatment. ENDOWAVE has developed a technology to enable their treatment using a minimally invasive procedure that will improve both safety and efficacy. We believe that our TABLA device combined with screening, will lead to a paradigm shift in care and outcomes for lung cancer patients.
The overall objective of the project is develop the microwave ablation system including the console, pump and flexible single use ablation catheter. The device will be brought to a first in human clinical study that will form the basis for regulatory approval in EU and other countries.
The consortium have encountered delays which has resulted in the clinical work not being completing within the planned 24 month period. When RP2 reporting is complete, the team will seek a no-cost extension to allow the overarching project objective of completing a clinical study with this new and innovative technology to be completed.
