LUNG CANCER

Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Alexander Drilon, MD

Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Alexander Drilon, MD

Determining the PD-L1 status of a patient’s tumor has become increasingly important for informing the clinical decision whether to offer certain immunotherapeutic agents, making standardization of the tests and antibodies used to determine the PD-L1 status necessary to provide accurate and consistent results.

Treatment with icotinib more than doubled intracranial progression-free survival (iPFS) compared with whole brain irradiation (WBI) combined with standard chemotherapy.

Osimertinib (Tagrisso) reduced the risk of disease progression by 70% compared with a chemotherapy doublet in patients with EGFR T790M-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who progressed after first-line targeted therapy, according to phase III clinical trial results.

Roy. S. Herbst, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), professor of Pharmacology, chief of Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center, discusses the phase III KEYNOTE-010 study, in which pembrolizumab provided superior overall survival over docetaxel in patients with previously treated, PD-L1-expressing advanced non-small cell lung cancer. He discussed these results during an interview at the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Jeffrey Schneider, MD, chief of hematology and medical oncology, Winthrop University Hospital, discusses the benefits of Myriad's myPlan in determining high-risk patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose disease&nbsp;has metastasized to the brain can do without whole-brain&nbsp;radiotherapy, according to a study published in&nbsp;<em>Lancet.</em>

Howard L. &ldquo;Jack&rdquo; West, MD, thoracic oncologist of Swedish Cancer Institute at Swedish Medical Center, discusses the combination of erlotinib plus bevacizumab (Avastin) as a frontline treatment for patients with unresectable advanced, metastatic, or recurrent&nbsp;<em>EGFR</em>-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Catherine Shu, MD, medical oncologist, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center, discusses two clinical trials exploring the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

The majority of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer do not harbor an actionable marker, calling for future research into optimal therapies and combinations for patients with non-driver adenocarcinoma.

The promising clinical efficacy seen with the combination of erlotinib and bevacizumab as a treatment for patients with <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer warrants widespread consideration.

Raymond Osarogiagbon, MD, medical oncologist, Baptist Memorial Medical Group, discusses the significance of surgery quality in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Several practice-changing developments are on the horizon in subsets of non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

Targeted therapies have revolutionized the treatment of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer; however, not all patients harbor identifiable driver mutations. Standard treatment options among patients lacking molecular targets include chemotherapy and antiangiogenesis agents.&nbsp;

The pathological response following pre-operative cisplatin, pemetrexed, and bevacizumab treatment may serve as a surrogate marker for post-surgical recurrence-free survival in patients with non-squamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

Sonja Althammer, PhD, Team Leader Bioinformatics at Definiens, discusses a study looking to define a subgroup of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who respond best to treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab.

The presence of both PD-L1&ndash;positive and CD8+ cells may help to predict response in patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with durvalumab (MEDI4736), according to findings presented during a late-breaking abstract session at the <em>SITC 31st Annual Meeting &amp; Associated Programs</em>. Sonja Althammer, PhD, presented on the correlation between improved survival rates to durvalumab treatment and high CD8+ and PD-L1+ cell densities.&nbsp;

Ensartinib (X-396), a novel small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) developed to target patients with ALK-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), demonstrated promising clinical activity in that subset of patients who are crizotinib (Xalkori)-na&iuml;ve or crizotinib-resistant.

An overview of the data and rationale that led to the approval of nivolumab and&nbsp;pembrolizumab for NSCLC, with an emphasis on specific patient&nbsp;populations likely to benefit from this approach and future&nbsp;directions for clinical research in this area.