Update shows sustained overall survival benefit with adjuvant osimertinib in resected EGFR-mutated lung cancer

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by International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer

edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan

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An exploratory 8-year landmark update from the Phase III ADAURA trial showed that adjuvant osimertinib continued to provide a long-term overall survival benefit for patients with completely resected, EGFR-mutated stage IB–IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The findings were presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).

The study was also published today in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

In patients with stage II–IIIA disease, the 8-year overall survival rate was 74% with osimertinib compared with 58% with placebo, a 16-percentage-point difference. The hazard ratio for overall survival was 0.53 (95% CI, 0.38–0.75).

Across the overall stage IB–IIIA population, the 8-year overall survival rate was 79% with osimertinib versus 64% with placebo, a 15-percentage-point difference. The overall survival hazard ratio was 0.52 (95% CI, 0.39–0.71), and benefit was observed across predefined subgroups.

ADAURA is a global Phase III, double-blind, randomized trial that enrolled 682 patients with completely resected EGFR-mutated stage IB–IIIA NSCLC. Patients were randomized to receive once-daily osimertinib 80 mg or placebo for up to 3 years; adjuvant chemotherapy was permitted. All patients had already had the opportunity to complete 3 years of study treatment before this long-term exploratory analysis. The updated analysis extends earlier ADAURA findings demonstrating statistically significant disease-free survival and overall survival benefits with adjuvant osimertinib. Three years of adjuvant osimertinib is the standard of care in this setting.

"These additional long-term findings further characterize the established survival benefit of adjuvant osimertinib for patients with resected EGFR-mutated stage IB–IIIA NSCLC, with or without adjuvant chemotherapy," said Roy Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., of Dartmouth Cancer Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. "This is the first study to establish the new paradigm that bringing the best targeted drugs to patients with earlier-stage disease can delay progression and improve survival. We have come such a long way in the 30 years since EGFR inhibitors were first introduced into clinical practice, and this is great news for our patients."

Publication details

Journal of Thoracic Oncology (2026).

Journal information: Journal of Thoracic Oncology

Key medical concepts

Disease-Free Survival

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OncologyPulmonary medicine Provided by International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Who's behind this story?

Gaby Clark

MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile →

Robert Egan

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