title: Recent developments in the use of immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: Targeted therapies have significantly improved the prognosis of subsets of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring somatically activated oncogenes, such as mutant EGFR and rearranged ALK. However, the efficacy of these agents is limited by the development of acquired resistance which occurs after variable periods of time. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies to achieve long lasting disease control, as well as new therapies for those patients without targetable driver mutations. A deeper understanding of interactions between the immune system and tumor cells has led to the development of a number of immunotherapeutic agents.
  
  
  
  We review current data on immunotherapy for lung cancer treatment, with a focus on checkpoint inhibitors and therapeutic vaccines. References for this review were identified through searches of PubMed, congress proceedings and reference lists from key original and review papers. Expert commentary: While most vaccines have been unsuccessful, inhibitors of specific immune checkpoints, including CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, have shown significant clinical activity and manageable toxicities and recently, two anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies have been approved by the FDA for treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC. Identification of reliable predictive biomarkers for patient selection and novel rational combinations are currently active areas of research to further improve the efficacy of immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: a Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Human Pathology 'G. Barresi' , University of Messina , Messina , Italy.
authors.forename: Mariacarmela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santarpia
authors.affiliation: b Department of Medical Oncology , VU University Medical Center , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.|c Cancer Pharmacology Lab, AIRC Start-Up Unit , University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giovannetti
authors.affiliation: d Phase I - Early Clinical Trials Unit, Oncology Department , Antwerp University Hospital & Center for Oncological Research (CORE) Antwerp University , Edegem , Belgium.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rolfo
authors.affiliation: e Dr Rosell Oncology Institute , Quirón Dexeus University Hospital , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Niki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karachaliou
authors.affiliation: e Dr Rosell Oncology Institute , Quirón Dexeus University Hospital , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Cao
authors.affiliation: a Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Human Pathology 'G. Barresi' , University of Messina , Messina , Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Altavilla
authors.affiliation: e Dr Rosell Oncology Institute , Quirón Dexeus University Hospital , Barcelona , Spain.|f Pangaea Biotech , Barcelona , Spain.|g Cancer Biology and Precision Medicine Program , Catalan Institute of Oncology, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol , Badalona , Spain.|h Germans Trias i Pujol Health Sciences Institute and Hospital , Campus Can Ruti, Badalona , Spain.|i Molecular Oncology Research (MORe) Foundation , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosell
mesh_terms: D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D007155:Immunologic Factors
keywords: Non-small-cell lung cancer; cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4); immune checkpoint inhibitors; programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1); programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1)