Towards Healthcare
Lung Cancer Trial Market Size, Trends and Opportunities

Lung Cancer Trial Market Opportunities and Segment Analysis

The lung cancer trial market is growing due to it helps inform the lung cancer patient community related to novel medications and advances in types of radiation therapy or surgery available for the treatment of lung cancer.

Category: Healthcare Services Insight Code: 5708 Format: PDF / PPT / Excel

The worldwide lung cancer trial market is experiencing significant expansion, with projections indicating a revenue increase reaching several hundred million dollars by the end of the forecast period, spanning 2025 to 2034. This growth is driven by emerging trends and strong demand across key sectors.

The lung cancer trial market is expanding rapidly due to increasing cases of lung cancer worldwide and the development of personalized treatment. North America is dominant in the market, as high awareness and strong healthcare infrastructure drive the growth of the market.

Furthermore, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing due to the low cost of clinical trials and increasing government programmes driving the market growth. Increasing partnership between government institutions and pharmaceutical companies, accelerating clinical trials for lung cancer.

Key Takeaways

  • North America is dominant in the lung cancer trial market share in 2024.
  • Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period.
  • By cancer type, the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) segment for the largest market revenue in 2024 and is expected to fastest growth over the forecast period.
  • By therapy type, the immunotherapy segment accounted for the largest market revenue in 2024 and is expected to fastest-growing over the forecast period.
  • By phase, the phase III segment accounted for the largest market revenue in 2024.
  • By phase, the phase II segment is expected to register the fastest growth over the forecast period.
  • By sponsor type, the pharmaceutical & biotech companies segment accounted for the largest market revenue in 2024 and is expected to fastest-growing over the forecast period.

Market Overview

The lung cancer trial market is growing rapidly because this trial involves studying novel combinations of immunotherapies with chemotherapy or other medications to treat lung cancer. Lung cancer trials involve how new treatments can be developed and how existing treatments can be enhanced. Clinical trials of lung cancer play a significant role in medical care. Clinical trial providers offer healthcare and more frequent health inspections as part of treatment. This study aims to assess the safety, feasibility, and therapeutic effect of administering a short, quick course of high-dose radiation therapy. Patients with lung cancer should consider novel types of targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and chemotherapies that are available through clinical trials.

  • In March 2025, the Cancer Research and Statistics Foundation (CRSF) initiates the “LuNGS Alliance”, providing free lung next-generation sequencing (NGS) for lung cancer patients nationwide. The initiative, reinforced by pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Roche, is facilitated in collaboration with 4baseCare as the official lab partner. The programme purposes to improve access to targeted cancer therapies by identifying actionable genetic mutations in lung cancer patients. (Source - Business Standard)
  • In March 2025, VeGen Labs, a trailblazing biotechnology start-up incubated at ASPIRE-TBI and ASPIRE-BioNEST at the University of Hyderabad, secured Rs 3.765 crores in royalty-based financial support from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a government initiative under India’s Department of Biotechnology. This capital will boost the company’s Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling toxicology studies for IND126, a promising KRAS inhibitor targeting Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in India. (Source - e Health)
  • In January 2025, the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care announced the ‘2024 Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure’ grant opportunity, offering A$35.7m for ‘innovation’ projects and medical research. The main goal of the initiative is to extend and establish critical research infrastructure, with facilities, equipment, systems, and services to conduct medical research. (Source - Lamda)

AI Integration in Lung Cancer Trials

Integration of AI in the lung cancer trial drives the growth of the market as AI-driven technology has huge potential to transform early detection and improve patient outcomes. Additionally, further research and integration of AI systems in clinical practice are needed to ensure their safety, reliability, and extensive adoption. This is due to the constant partnership and developments in the medical and AI communities. The current application of AI enables better management and categorization of lung cancer clinical trials, growing trial diversity, and representativeness. AI rapidly analyzes CT scans to identify signs in the lungs and assess who is at risk of developing lung cancer in the upcoming period. This innovation permits earlier treatment and diagnosis.

Market Dynamics

Driver

Increasing Burden of Lung Cancer

The incidence of lung cancer differs globally primarily due to varying risk factors, including smoking rates, environmental pollution, and dietary practices. Exposure to harmful substances, such as air pollution, radon, asbestos, uranium, diesel exhaust, silica, and coal products, heightens the need for early cancer screenings. Additionally, inadequate healthcare conditions and difficulties in implementing tobacco control policies contribute to the expansion of the lung cancer trial market.

Restraint

Challenges in Computer Vision

Traditional clinical trials have long faced challenges related to startup time, recruitment, accrual, expenses, and the requirement to identify specific subpopulations of patients. These issues often lead to annoyingly slow results, which limit the growth of lung cancer.

Opportunity

Increasing Demand for Personalized Medicine

The rising demand for personalized medicine, which customizes treatments based on an individual’s genetic makeup, plays a vital role in enhancing survival rates and quality of life. In the realm of lung cancer theranostics, precision medicine represents an innovative approach that merges prevention, diagnosis, and treatment tailored to the unique characteristics of individual patients or specific populations. This strategy necessitates the gathering and analysis of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data alongside clinical features of lung cancer patients. Precision medicine serves as a contemporary framework for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, accounting for patients' variances, therefore fueling the need for genotype-specific clinical trials in lung cancer and expanding the opportunities within the lung cancer trial market.

Segmental Insights

Why the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Segment Dominated the Market?

By cancer type, the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) segment dominated and is expected to fastest growing over the forecast period in the lung cancer trial market in 2024, as non-small cell lung cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the lung tissues. There are various types of non-small cell lung cancer. Smoking is a significant risk factor for non-small cell lung cancer. Major signs and symptoms of non-small cell lung cancer include shortness of breath and coughing. NSCLC accounts for around 85% of lung cancers.

Why is the Immunotherapy Segment Dominant in the Market?

By therapy type, the immunotherapy segment is dominant and expected to fastest growing in the lung cancer trial market, as the major development in immunotherapy for lung cancer has been made in immune checkpoint inhibitors. Immune checkpoints are molecules that work on the immune cells, which start or stop an immune response. Immunotherapy is the most promising novel treatment for lung cancer, as it supports the body's immune system to destroy and locate cancerous cells in the lungs. Immunotherapy improves the capacity of the immune system to recognise and eliminate malignant cells, and if traditional therapies fail, the doctor could then suggest immunotherapy for the treatment of lung cancer.

Why is Phase III Segment Dominant in the Market?

By phase, the phase III segment is dominant in the lung cancer trial market, as investigators evaluate and discover novel treatment strategies that result in an expressive survival advantage for patients with lung cancer is continuously ongoing. The phase III trial proved an improvement in the overall survival rate. Phase III trials goal to capture a wider representation of the population that benefits from the specific drug. In the phase III trials, investigators compare the performance of the drug to other treatment options or a placebo.

For Instance,

  • In June 2025, Roche announced positive results from the Phase III IMforte study of Tecentriq in combination with lurbinectedin as a first-line maintenance treatment for people with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), following induction therapy with carboplatin, etoposide, and Tecentriq. The data showed that this combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 46% and the risk of death by 27%, compared to Tecentriq maintenance therapy alone. (Source - Roche)

The phase II segment is expected to be the fastest-growing in the market due to larger numbers of patients getting a specific drug treatment in Phase II studies than in Phase I studies, and there is a huge chance to detect and compile adverse effect data. These trials offer vital information on the potential risks and efficacy of a drug, supporting researchers in determining whether it has the strength to become a feasible treatment option. In the phase II clinical trials, investigators aim to regulate the drug's effectiveness in treating particular medical conditions.

Why are Pharmaceutical & Biotech Companies Segment Dominant in the Market?

By sponsor type, the pharmaceutical & biotech companies segment is dominant and expected to fastest-growing in the lung cancer trial market, as clinical trials enhance health care services through increasing the treatment standards. It leads to novel treatments, which support the patients to live longer and to live a life with minimum disability or pain. Clinical trials are significant for drug development and upgrading of human health, and clinical study results are unpredictable. In the pharmaceutical and biotech companies, researchers have tested similar drugs and formulated hypotheses, but they never know the effects of a particular medication or treatment without conducting studies. Clinical trials are used to determine whether novel treatments or medicines developed in the laboratory or by using animal models are effective or safe, or whether any recently developed analytical test will work properly or not.

Regional Insight

Why is North America Dominated in the Lung Cancer Trial Market?

North America dominated the market in 2024 as the North American healthcare system is considered as ideal healthcare in the world; it provides expedient access to a highly subspecialized network of doctors who work at the forefront of utilizing and developing novel, modern procedures and medications. The North American healthcare system has capitalized on noteworthy resources in pharmaceutical development and medical research, which has led to ground-breaking discoveries and enhanced treatments in a variety of fields, including lung cancer. The presence of a huge cancer center and growing specialized lung cancer programs fast-tracks the demand for lung cancer trials.

For Instance,

  • In March 2025, Genprex, Inc., a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes, announced that its research collaborators will present at the upcoming 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. (Source - Genprex)

United States Lung Cancer Trial Market Trends

The increasing incidence of lung cancer in the United States drives the demand for the market. For Instance, according to the American Cancer Society, in 2025, 2,041,910 new cancer cases and 618,120 cancer deaths are expected to occur in the United States. Tobacco smoking is considered the leading cause of death globally, largely due to the increased risk of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer among men and women in the United States, which contributes to the growth of the market.

Canada Lung Cancer Trial Market

In Canada, there is rising evidence that oncology clinical trials units, also growing spending in cancer research, drive the growth of the lung cancer trial market. The Government of Canada is providing funding for pediatric cancer research that leads to better results and healthier, longer lives for young cancer patients. In 2024, it is projected that 32,100 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in Canada. Lung cancer is expected to continue as the common cause of cancer death, accounting for 23.5% of all cancer deaths, which will cause growth of the market.

Why Asia Pacific Region the Fastest Growing in Market?

The Asia Pacific region is projected to experience the fastest growth in the lung cancer trial market during the forecast period, due to the high prevalence of smoking in the Asia Pacific region, and environmental factors are involved in the surge in lung cancer diagnoses. Air pollution is the fourth-highest risk factor for lung cancer in the Asia Pacific. More than four million people die in the region each year because of long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution.

China Lung Cancer Trial Market Trends

The increasing incidence and mortality rates of lung cancer, the important cause of cancer death in China, have significantly increased in recent years, leading to an increasing demand for novel treatment and trials in China. China has presented numerous policies and strategies, particularly to address the burden of lung cancer. Enlarged collaboration is required in the different areas in China to offer standardized treatment and relaxing care to patients with lung cancer, which contributes to the growth of the market.

India Lung Cancer Trial Market Trends

The Indian government has realised various initiatives to make cancer care more affordable and accessible, predominantly for economically weak patients. These programs help to lessen the financial burden of lung cancer treatment, allowing patients to receive effective and timely care. There are some initiatives, such as Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF), and Aarogyasri Scheme, which contribute to the growth of the market.

Recent Advances in Technology are Driving Europe

Europe is expected to grow significantly in the lung cancer trial market during the forecast period, as Europe has an excessively high cancer incidence and mortality burden, given that the continent has one-fifth of the global cancer cases. Huge growth in advanced hospitals, CROs, and research centers in the region supports the large-scale, multi-site trials; these factors all contribute to the growth of the market.

Germany Lung Cancer Trial Market Trends

Germany has become a worldwide leader in cancer treatment, renovating many oncological diseases from terminal to manageable conditions, which drives the growth of the market. In Germany, clinical cancer research improves the health results of lung cancer patients, which drives the market.

Top Companies in the Lung Cancer Trial Market

Lung Cancer Trial Market Companies

Latest Announcements by Industry Leaders

In June 2025, Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech. Stated, “We believe BNT327 has the strength to become an opening immuno-oncology backbone, moving beyond single-mechanism checkpoint inhibitors and growing into multiple solid-tumor indications. Our partnership with BMS, a ground-breaking leader in immuno-oncology, goal to accelerate and largely expand BNT327’s development to completely realize its potential.” (Source - BMS)

Recent Developments in Lung Cancer Trial Market

  • In June 2025, Amgen announced novel interim results from the global Phase 3 DeLLphi-304 trial showing IMDELLTRA reduced the risk of death by 40% and pointedly extended median overall survival (OS) by more than five months compared to standard-of-care (SOC) chemotherapy in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who progressed on or after one line of platinum-based chemotherapy (Source - Amgen)
  • In June 2025, MAIA Biotechnology, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer, announced that a new partial response was identified in a patient after 20 months of treatment in its Phase 2 THIO-101 clinical trial evaluating ateganosine, sequenced with Regeneron’s immune checkpoint inhibitor cemiplimab in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who are resistant to immune therapy and chemotherapy. (Source - Businesswire)
  • In June 2025, BioNTech SE and Bristol Myers Squibb announced that the companies have agreed on the global co-development and co-commercialization of BioNTech’s investigational bispecific antibody BNT327 across numerous solid tumor types. Under the agreement, BioNTech and BMS will work jointly to broaden and accelerate the development of this clinical candidate. (Source - BMS)
  • In January 2025, OS Therapies Agrees to Acquire All Listeria Monocytogenes-based Immuno-Oncology Programs and IP Assets from Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Adding Phase 2 Lung Cancer and Phase 1 Prostate Cancer Programs to Pipeline (Source - Businesswire

Segments Covered in the Report

By Cancer Type

  • Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
  • Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)

By Therapy Type

  • Chemotherapy
  • Targeted Therapy
  • Immunotherapy
  • Radiation Therapy
  • Combination Therapy

By Phase

  • Phase II
  • Phase I
  • Phase III
  • Phase IV

By Sponsor Type

  • Pharmaceutical & Biotech Companies
  • Government & Academic Institutes
  • Others

By Region

  • North America
    • U.S.
    • Canada
  • Asia Pacific
    • China
    • Japan
    • India
    • South Korea
    • Thailand
  • Europe
    • Germany
    • UK
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Denmark
    • Norway
  • Latin America
    • Brazil
    • Mexico
    • Argentina
  • Middle East and Africa (MEA)
    • South Africa
    • UAE
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Kuwait
  • Last Updated: 11 June 2025
  • Report Covered: [Revenue + Volume]
  • Historical Year: 2021-2023
  • Base Year: 2024
  • Estimated Years: 2025-2034

Meet the Team

Deepa Pandey is a focused and detail-oriented market research professional with growing expertise in the healthcare sector, delivering high-quality insights across therapeutic areas, diagnostics, biotechnology and healthcare services.

Learn more about Deepa Pandey

Aditi Shivarkar, with over 14 years of experience in consumer goods, leads research at Towards Consumer Goods, ensuring precise, actionable insights on trends, consumer preferences, and sustainable packaging for businesses.

Learn more about Aditi Shivarkar

Related Reports

FAQ's

Osimertinib (Tagrisso) is the most effective and most widely used EGFR inhibitor in advanced lung cancer. Osimertinib was approved by the FDA in 2021 as adjuvant therapy after surgery for people with early-stage NSCLC with certain mutations in the EGFR gene.

Pragmatica-Lung is a phase 3 clinical trial for people with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread beyond the lungs (stage 4 cancer).

The worldwide lung cancer trial market is experiencing significant expansion, with projections indicating a revenue increase reaching several hundred million dollars by the end of the forecast period, spanning 2025 to 2034. This growth is driven by emerging trends and strong demand across key sectors.

North America is leading due to the growing cases of lung cancer and growing investment by the government in conducting cancer research.

The lung cancer trial market includes 5 segments such as by cancer type, by therapy type, by phase, by sponsor type, and by region.

Some key players include AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG, etc.

Key trends include rising demand for cell therapy, growth in cancer vaccination development, and innovation in CRISPR therapy.

Government of India, National Institutes of Health, FDA, WHO, PIB, CDC.