Chemo before 3 pm could be more successful for lung cancer patients

Medical Xpress / Nature Publishing Group / Nature Medicine ^ | Feb. 2, 2026 | Tony Mok et al

[ConservativeMind]

Patients with advanced lung cancer who received immunochemotherapy before 15:00 (3 p.m.) had a more delayed disease progression than patients receiving treatment later in the day. The findings, published as part of a randomized phase 3 trial of 210 participants, suggest that scheduling therapy early in the day may offer a simple, cost-neutral way to enhance standard care.

Circadian rhythms, the internal 24-hour clock, are known to affect immune cell behavior and responses to treatment. Previous retrospective studies across cancers, such as kidney cancer and malignant melanoma, have hinted that administering immune checkpoint inhibitors earlier in the day might be more effective. However, prospective randomized controlled trials to validate these preliminary findings have been lacking.

Yongchang Zhang and colleagues conducted a randomized phase 3 study involving 210 patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer who have not received any treatment (treatment-naïve). Patients were assigned to receive immunochemotherapy either before 15:00 (early group) or at or after 15:00 (late group) for the first four treatment cycles.

After a median follow-up of approximately 28.7 months, the early group did not experience their cancer worsen (progression-free survival) for an average of 11.3 months, versus 5.7 months for the late group. Median overall survival was 28.0 months in the early group and 16.8 months in the late group. Treatment response rates were 69.5% in the early group and 56.2% in the late group, and there were no significant differences in immune-related adverse events.

Through further analysis, the authors also observed more CD8⁺ T cells circulating in the blood (a type of immune cell) and a higher ratio of activated to exhausted CD8⁺ T cells in the early group than in the late group, which could explain higher therapy efficacy in this group.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: cancer; chemo; lung; treatment

[ConservativeMind]

Immunochemotherapy for lung cancer, and possibly kidney cancer and melanomas, appear to be more successful if done before 3 p.m..

A study I posted a day ago said radiation therapy is best from afternoon through evening, for some cancers.

[ConservativeMind]

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[mass55th]

Horse manure. It depends on the type of cancer as to how it reacts to the chemo. My sister was diagnosed with small squamous cell lung cancer. All her chemo and radiation treatments were early in the day. Her cancer doctor told her that although small squamous cell cancer responds well to chemo treatment, it will come back, and with a vengeance. And it did. She was dead within 18 months.

[C210N]

Any cancer is better dealt with near zero carb diet than chemo. Starve the tumors!

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Chemo before 3 pm could be more successful for lung cancer patients

How does the cancer know what time it is?

[sauropod]

Bkmk