Immune therapy drugs can transform treatment for lung cancer, giving patients years of extra life, doctors reported Monday in a major study. They found that pre-treating lung cancer patients with immune therapy drugs before they get surgery can help melt away tumors and at the same time limit or even stop their spread.

“I have never seen progress move so fast,” Dr. Roy Herbst, a lung cancer specialist, told NBC News. Lung cancer is by far the biggest cause of cancer deaths. The results are so effective that it is likely every lung cancer patient should be given the option of immunotherapy first, Herbst said.