Tagrisso Shows 8-Year Survival Benefit in EGFR-Mutated Lung Cancer

Patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who took Tagrisso (osimertinib) for three years after surgery were more likely to be alive eight years later than those who received a placebo, according to long-term results from the phase 3 ADAURA trial.

The findings were presented at the 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer.

What do the eight-year ADAURA results mean for patients with EGFR-mutated lung cancer?

The findings apply to patients whose lung cancer was caught early enough to be removed with surgery and whose tumors have an EGFR mutation. EGFR is a protein that can help cancer cells grow. Tagrisso is a targeted therapy taken as a daily tablet that blocks EGFR.

Three years of Tagrisso after surgery is already the standard of care for eligible patients, so the eight-year results do not introduce a new treatment option. Instead, the findings provide a longer look at how well the survival benefit holds up after patients finish treatment.

EGFR testing is important because patients need to know whether their tumors carry the mutation before Tagrisso can be considered. According to AstraZeneca, the long-term results further support EGFR testing for patients whose lung cancer can be removed with surgery.

The full three years of treatment may also matter. Separate real-world findings presented at the conference evaluated patients in the United States who received Tagrisso after surgery. Patients who stopped treatment before completing three years had more than twice the risk of their cancer returning or dying compared with those who completed treatment, according to AstraZeneca.

How many patients were alive eight years after taking Tagrisso in ADAURA?

Among patients with stage 2 to 3A disease, the main group researchers set out to study, an estimated 74% of patients who received Tagrisso were alive at eight years compared with 58% of those who received a placebo. Tagrisso reduced the risk of death by 47% during the study.

Across the full trial population, which also included patients with stage 1B disease, an estimated 79% of patients who received Tagrisso were alive at eight years compared with 64% of patients who received a placebo. This represented a 48% lower risk of death.

These results measured overall survival, or how long patients lived after entering the trial regardless of whether their cancer returned.

The eight-year findings came from an additional analysis rather than one of the questions researchers originally planned to answer when the trial began. Updated survival information was available for 77% of patients who were still alive at the trial's planned final analysis. Researchers could not obtain newer information for 127 patients, so their previously recorded survival times remained unchanged.

The survival difference remained even though many patients in the placebo group later received Tagrisso after their cancer returned. This type of crossover can make survival differences between treatment groups smaller.

Dr. Roy S. Herbst of Dartmouth Cancer Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, said in a news release that the findings “further characterize the established survival benefit” of Tagrisso after surgery, regardless of whether patients also received chemotherapy.

How was the phase 3 ADAURA trial designed?

ADAURA included 682 patients around the world with stage 1B to 3A EGFR-mutated NSCLC that had been completely removed with surgery.

Researchers randomly assigned patients to receive either 80 milligrams of Tagrisso once a day or a placebo for up to three years. Patients in either group could also receive chemotherapy after surgery.

Neither the patients nor their doctors knew which treatment they received. By the time researchers conducted the long-term analysis, every patient had already had the opportunity to complete the full three years of treatment.

Earlier ADAURA results showed that Tagrisso helped patients live longer and delayed the return of their cancer.

What side effects were reported with Tagrisso in ADAURA?

Researchers did not collect new safety data specifically for the eight-year analysis.

Safety findings from the trial's earlier planned final survival analysis were consistent with what was already known about Tagrisso, and no new safety concerns were identified, according to AstraZeneca.

The eight-year update was published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology at the time of the conference presentation.

References

1. “Tagrisso demonstrated unprecedented eight-year landmark survival in early-stage EGFR-mutated lung cancer in ADAURA Phase III trial.” News release. AstraZeneca. Posted: Sept. 14, 2026.
2. “Eight-Year ADAURA Update Shows Sustained Overall Survival Benefit With Adjuvant Osimertinib in Resected EGFR-Mutated NSCLC.” News release. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Posted: Sept. 14, 2026.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don't forget to subscribe to CURE®'s newsletters here.