LUNG CANCER

Stage IIIB Unresectable NSCLC After Chemoradiotherapy

Stage IIIA Unresectable NSCLC After Chemoradiotherapy

Pembrolizumab has been granted a priority review designation by the FDA for the treatment of patients with advanced small cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed following ≥2 prior lines of therapy.

Entrectinib has been granted a priority review designation by the FDA as a therapy for&nbsp;select adult and pediatric patients with <em>NTRK</em> fusion&ndash;positive locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors, as well as patients with metastatic <em>ROS1</em>-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, according to Genentech, the developer of the multikinase inhibitor.

Edward B. Garon, MD,&nbsp;discussed these data, as well as other trials investigating immunotherapeutic agents for patients with&nbsp;EGFR-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

In a presentation during the 2nd Annual Precision Medicine Through Plasma: Using Liquid Biopsies in Contemporary Oncology Care symposium, Bob T. Li, MD, MPH, explained ctDNA&rsquo;s growing importance in lung cancer, given the disease&rsquo;s challenging prognosis.

Liquid biopsies have evolved beyond finding genotypes and have moved into the cancer detection and monitoring spaces, according to Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

A look back at all the&nbsp;FDA news&nbsp;in oncology from the month of&nbsp;January 2019, including several new approvals, breakthrough therapy designations, and a partial clinical hold.

Based on data from the&nbsp;phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial, the FDA has expanded the approval for&nbsp;pemetrexed injection in combination with pembrolizumab and platinum-based chemotherapy to include the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic nonsquamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer without <em>EGFR</em> or <em>ALK</em> alterations.

During a presentation at the <em>16th Annual </em>Winter Lung Cancer Conference,&nbsp;Julie R. Brahmer, MD, MSc shed light on some of the immunotherapy treatment options that could be entering the lung cancer pipeline over the next 5 years.

Edward B. Garon, MD,&nbsp;discusses the newer role of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC with the approval of durvalumab in this setting for patients whose disease has not progressed following concurrent chemoradiation.

Christina S. Baik, MD, MPH,&nbsp;discusses several existing and emerging treatment options for <em>ROS1</em>, <em>BRAF</em>, and <em>NTRK </em>genetic aberrations.