LUNG CANCER

Immunotherapy may provide an opportunity to change the treatment paradigm of small cell lung cancer as new clinical trials report out in the next year, says Anne Chiang, MD, PhD. Recent results with immunotherapy agents in the second-line setting have already influenced guidelines.

Overall survival and progression-free survival were improved with the combination of frontline atezolizumab with chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, meeting the coprimary endpoints of the phase III IMpower133 trial.

Chromosomal rearrangements involving the gene that encodes the RET tyrosine kinase are known oncogenic drivers in 1% to 2% of patients with non–small cell lung cancer. These RET rearrangements occur with characteristic partners, most commonly KIF5B, but also CCDC6, NCOA, TRIM33, CUX1, KIAA1217, FRMD4A, and KIAA1468.

Considerations for Treating Locally Advanced NSCLC

Consolidation Therapy for Locally Advanced NSCLC

A supplemental biologics license application has been accepted by the FDA seeking approval for the combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab for the frontline treatment of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer with tumor mutational burden  ≥10 mutations per megabase, according to Bristol-Myers Squibb, the manufacturer of both immune checkpoint inhibitors.