A new Southwest Oncology Group study led by UC Davis Cancer Center researchers suggests that the "disease control rate" may be a more powerful predictor of survival than tumor shrinkage in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. If validated, this "early look" statistical measure could enhance efficacy assessment, with broad implications for the design of future cancer clinical trials for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to Primo N. Lara, Jr., professor of hematology and oncology at UC Davis Cancer Center and lead author of the new study.