title: Nivolumab and Pembrolizumab for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
abstract: The outcomes for patients with previously treated advanced stage non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) are very poor, with a modest benefit from chemotherapy over best supportive care. Immunotherapy offers a novel approach for the treatment of these patients, with two anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) checkpoint inhibitors, nivolumab and pembrolizumab, recently approved by the FDA based on large randomized clinical trials showing increased overall survival compared with standard second-line docetaxel. Although only a subset of patients benefit from these drugs, the treatment is usually well tolerated and the responses are often durable, with an unprecedented number of survivors 3 years after starting the therapy. The next steps should be the identification of reliable predictors for benefit from immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors and the pursuit of well-designed combination therapies. In this article, we review the rationale for the use of checkpoint inhibitors in NSCLC, the data from phase I and randomized clinical trials, and future directions. Clin Cancer Res; 22(15); 3713-7. ©2016 AACR.
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. dmorgens@dom.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morgensztern
authors.affiliation: Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Roy S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Herbst
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000077594:Nivolumab; D011379:Prognosis; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor; D000077594:Nivolumab; C582435:pembrolizumab