Open Access 01-12-2017 | Minireview
Successes and failures: what did we learn from recent first-line treatment immunotherapy trials in non-small cell lung cancer?
Published in: BMC Medicine | Issue 1/2017
Login to get accessAbstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors have significantly modified the therapeutic landscape of advanced non-small cell lung cancer in second-line settings, with a more recent advancement in first-line settings. Given the superior outcome with pembrolizumab as an upfront strategy, PD-L1 status should now be considered a new reflex biomarker to guide first-line treatment in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Improved responses have also been reported with the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy as the first-line treatment; however, this strategy has not yet been validated by phase III trial data and its interplay with PD-L1 status still requires clarification.
Herein, we review the contradictory results of recent phase III trials with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the first-line setting, the potential reasons for such discrepancies, and some of the remaining points of discussion related to the positioning of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the first-line therapy of non-small cell lung cancer.