title: PD-1/PD-L1 blockades in non-small-cell lung cancer therapy.
abstract: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in males and the second leading cause of death in females worldwide. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the main pathological type of lung cancer, and most newly diagnosed NSCLC patients cannot undergo surgery because the disease is already locally advanced or metastatic. Despite chemoradiotherapy and targeted therapy improving clinical outcomes, overall survival remains poor. Immune checkpoint blockade, especially blockade of programmed death-1 (PD-1) receptor and its ligand PD-L1, achieved robust responses and improved survival for patients with locally advanced/metastatic NSCLC in preclinical and clinical studies. However, with regard to PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade as monotherapy or in combination with other antitumor therapies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy (including conventional irradiation and stereotactic body radiotherapy), and target therapy, there are still many unknowns in treating patients with NSCLC. Despite this limited understanding, checkpoint blockade as a novel therapeutic approach may change the treatment paradigm of NSCLC in the future. Here we review the main results from completed and ongoing studies to investigate the feasibility of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, as monotherapy or combinatorial agents in patients with locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC, and explore optimal strategy in such patients.
authors.affiliation: Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China; Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medical College, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Miaomiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Anqin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
keywords: NSCLC; PD-1; PD-L1; checkpoint; immunotherapy