Pfizer Inc. Lung Cancer Pill May Double Survival

An experimental drug called crizotinib sharply increases survival in lung cancer patients with a specific genetic mutation, researchers said Sunday. Although only about 4% of lung cancer patients carry the mutation, that still amounts to about 50,000 people worldwide, experts said. Researchers hope that other new drugs targeted at different mutations will be also developed and that combinations of such targeted drugs will prove even more effective in lung cancer. Lung cancer is the second-most-common form of cancer in the United States and the biggest cancer killer among both men and women, with 371,000 cases diagnosed each year and 159,000 deaths.