Australians with advanced lung cancer die much sooner than patients in Taiwan, according to new research.
Oncologist Dr Say Liang Ng says the research, published in the European Journal of Cancer Care, highlights the limitations of chemotherapy as a frontline defence against the country's leading cancer killer.
"It's time to rethink the chemotherapy-first approach," Dr Ng said.
Researchers compared lung cancer survival rates among patients in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Taiwan and Korea.
The study, sponsored by pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co, analysed the outcomes of more than 1200 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Survival outcomes in Australia were comparable with patients from Europe but there was a distinct difference when compared with Taiwanese patients, Dr Ng said.
Patients in Australia survived an average of 19.6 months after diagnosis. In Taiwan, patients lived more than twice as long (41.3 months).
Dr Ng from Bendigo who was an author on the paper, said the better survival rates in Taiwan were due to therapies being used that target a specific molecular mutation in the cancer, which is more common in Asians.
Last month immunotherapy drug Opdivo was listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, giving Australians with advanced lung and renal cancer affordable access to it.
The move was welcomed by Lung Foundation Australia, which said it would help prolong the lives of many with the disease.
But with an estimated 9000 people likely to die of lung cancer this year, Dr Ng wants to see more targeted treatments become available in Australia.
Dr Ng said the more of these treatments listed on the PBS, the better it would be for patients.
"The more options we have, the better the chance of holding the cancer at bay," Dr Ng said.
Cancer Council Australia CEO Professor Sanchia Aranda says there were limitations to the study and urged caution.
She says the Taiwanese patients in the study were more likely to be women and less likely to be smokers, factors linked to better survival.
However, Prof Aranda agrees the poorer outcomes in Australian patients with advanced lung cancer is "concerning".
She also acknowledged that chemotherapy was "inadequate" when treating metastatic lung cancer.
"We know that the standard chemotherapy regiments improves survival marginally but they don't give you long term survival so they are still really inadequate treatments," Prof Aranda told AAP.
"That said metastatic disease is really difficult to treat," she noted.
An early diagnosis test - one that would find a blood biomarker - should be the priority of research investment, Prof Aranda said.
"If you get early disease and you operate on it and treat it according to standard protocols you can get to 65 per cent five year survival, which is substantially different to the 10 per cent for Australia in this report," she said.
