Chronotherapy and Circadian Medicine

A new study in the American Cancer Society’s journal Cancer reports that patients with extensive‑stage small cell lung cancer who received standard immunochemotherapy before 3:00 p.m. had significantly longer progression‑free and overall survival than those treated later in the day. Analyzing nearly 400 patients treated in China between May 2019 and October 2023 with first‑line atezolizumab or durvalumab plus chemotherapy, researchers found early‑day infusions were associated with roughly 52% lower risk of disease progression and 63% lower risk of death after adjusting for confounders, supporting the emerging concept of cancer "chronotherapy" and drawing interest from U.S. oncologists.