Lung Cancer Clinical Trials
There are 1,797 actively recruiting lung cancer clinical trials across 79 countries. Studies span Phase 2, Phase 1, Not Applicable, Phase 3, Phase 4, Early Phase 1. Top locations include Houston, Texas, United States, New York, New York, United States, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Updated daily from ClinicalTrials.gov.
Lung Cancer Trials at a Glance
1,797 actively recruiting trials for lung cancer are listed on ClinicalTrialsFinder across 6 cities in 79 countries. The largest study group is Phase 2 with 615 trials, with the heaviest enrollment activity in Houston, New York, and Guangzhou. Lead sponsors running lung cancer studies include Sun Yat-sen University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and AstraZeneca.
Browse lung cancer trials by phase
Top cities for lung cancer trials
Treatments under study
Understanding Lung Cancer Clinical Trials
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), approved after landmark clinical trials, transformed the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer and has become a first-line standard of care for many patients. Targeted therapies against driver mutations like EGFR, ALK, ROS1, KRAS G12C, and RET have turned what was once a uniformly aggressive disease into one with increasingly personalized treatment options. Clinical trials remain the only way to access the next generation of lung cancer therapies, including novel combinations, resistance-overcoming drugs, and early-detection technologies.
Why Consider a Clinical Trial?
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Lung Cancer clinical trials
In most cases, yes. The majority of lung cancer trials require molecular profiling results to determine eligibility. Comprehensive next-generation sequencing (NGS) and PD-L1 testing are standard. If your tumor has not been tested, ask your oncologist about ordering these tests, as they are covered by most insurance plans.
Yes. While small cell lung cancer has fewer approved therapies, there are active trials testing antibody-drug conjugates, novel immunotherapy combinations, and targeted agents like DLL3-directed therapies. These trials are particularly important because treatment options for small cell lung cancer remain more limited than for non-small cell.
Many trials now include patients with brain metastases, particularly if the metastases are stable or have been treated. Some trials specifically evaluate drugs that cross the blood-brain barrier. Check the eligibility criteria carefully, as policies on brain metastases vary significantly between studies.
When a targeted therapy fails, a repeat biopsy or liquid biopsy can identify the resistance mechanism. Clinical trials testing next-generation drugs designed to overcome specific resistance mutations are available for many scenarios. Your oncologist can help identify trials matched to your resistance profile.
Most lung cancer trials provide at minimum the current standard of care. New treatments are typically tested in addition to or compared against standard therapy, not instead of it. Placebo-only arms are essentially never used in advanced lung cancer trials.
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