BACKGROUND: NSCLC is the most common cancer of lungs. The common gene mutations of NSCLC are TP 53, KRAS, EGFR & ALK in which TP 53 & KRAS mutations accounting for nearly 70% of lung cancers. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in European countries over the years. The 5-year overall survival rate for NSCLC is very poor, ranging from 68% in patients' stage IB disease to 0-10% with stage IV disease.

OBJECTIVES: The overall objective was to outline the impact of various novel therapies on the mortality of NSCLC in select, highly developed European countries from 2010-2020

METHODS: Secondary research was limited to the English publications from the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) over the last 10 years.

RESULTS: Age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) trends in France, Germany and Italy were 21.54, 20.06, 19.76 in 2010; 21.59, 19.63, 15.3 in 2020, respectively. Mortality trends in Spain & UK were 20.31, 20.95 in 2010; 17.76, 17.68 in 2020, respectively. Approximately 265 novel therapies targeting various pathways including EGFR, ALK, ROS 1 mutations as well as the PD L1 non-oncogene with different combinations gained EMA approval from the plethora of pipeline therapies in EU5 over the last 10 years. Despite treatment advances, there remains an unmet need for drugs targeting the most common mutations TP 53 & KRAS.

CONCLUSIONS: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in EU5. As a result of the advent of target-specific therapies, the mortality rates in EU5 have been gradually decreasing over time. With the approval of over 200 therapies in the last decade, one might expect a drastic improvement in mortality, but the true impact was modest and survival rates remain poor. This raises the question of whether these trends are due to limited efficacy or restrictive patient access.