Immune checkpoint inhibitors as first-line and salvage therapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.
Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a poor prognosis with few treatment options available for patients after failure of first-line therapy. Nivolumab is the first immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting the PD-1 to be approved in recurrent NSCLC with squamous and nonsquamous histology. More recently, pembrolizumab has also been approved as salvage therapy in PD-L1-positive recurrent NSCLC. The success of immunotherapy in malignant melanoma, previously a disease with no effective treatment, has generated optimism and expectation that some of the checkpoint inhibitors currently in clinical development will soon become available as first-line therapy and hence improve outcomes for the vast majority of patients with advanced NSCLC. This article summarizes the progress accomplished in the field and discusses controversies surrounding the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Gloucestershire Oncology Centre, Cheltenham General Hospital, Sandford Road, Cheltenham GL53 7AN, UK.
Marios P
MP
Decatris
Princess Alexandra Hospital & Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia.
Kenneth J
KJ
O'Byrne
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000077594:Nivolumab; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000379:methods
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000077594:Nivolumab; C582435:pembrolizumab
checkpoint inhibitors; first-line therapy; immunotherapy; non-small-cell lung cancer; salvage therapy