Study Explores THIO Plus Immunotherapy in Advanced Lung Cancer

The purpose of a recent study shared at the 2025 World Conference on Lung Cancer was to evaluate THIO (ateganosine, 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine), a telomerase inhibitor, in combination with immunotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, explained Dr. Thomas Jankowski, a medical oncologist at the Medical University of Lubin in Poland.

Jankowski noted that while checkpoint inhibitors have shown strong results in overall and progression-free survival, many patients still experience disease progression, with chemotherapy being the only approved second-line option. THIO is being tested at very small doses not for its chemotherapy effect, but to help overcome resistance to checkpoint inhibitors.

In this study, THIO is being combined with Libtayo(cemiplimab), though Jankowski emphasized that it could potentially be paired with other PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors as well.

Transcript

What was the main purpose of this study, looking at THIO and Libtayoin advanced non-small cell lung cancer?

We live in an era of immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors, which have shown very good results, including long overall survival and progression-free survival. However, some patients still experience disease progression. Currently, second-line treatment for these patients is only chemotherapy. There is no established immunotherapy after immunotherapy yet, although many trials are focusing on this. Right now, we don’t have immunotherapy options for patients who progress after prior immunotherapy, so we are looking for new drugs, especially for patients in second, third or later lines of treatment.

Our drug, THIO, is a telomerase inhibitor. It is a type of chemotherapy, but in our project, we use only very limited, small doses. We use THIO not for its chemotherapy effect, but to overcome resistance to immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors. That is why we combine THIO with immunotherapy in our trial.

We use Libtayoas one of the immunotherapy drugs because we have a collaboration with its manufacturer. However, I believe it could be combined with any immunotherapy drug, either anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1. We also have trials in other cancers using different immune checkpoint inhibitors. In this trial, we are using Libtayo.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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