Biomarker-Driven Lung Cancer

Bilal Piperdi, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine (Oncology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, comments on molecular targeted agents for stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

WCLC is the largest meeting dedicated to lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. This year’s theme was “Next-Generation Lung Cancer Care,” and highlights from some key data presented are provided here.

Mark G. Kris, MD, William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, gives an overview of current guidelines for molecular testing in lung cancer.

Chandra P. Belani, MD, from the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, discusses the treatment of subgroups of patients with lung cancer.

The addition of bevacizumab, erlotinib, afatinib, and crizotinib to the treatment arsenal for NSCLC has been a major advance in the treatment of this disease. However, there is a large imbalance within tumor types.

Activating EGFR mutations are associated with response to TKIs. Afatinib (Gilotrif) is an oral, irreversible ErbB family TKI that targets EGFR, HER2, and ErbB4. Afatinib is being formally evaluated in the LUX-Lung clinical trial program for NSCLC.

Tony S.K. Mok, BMSc, MD, FRCPC, professor, Department of Clinical Oncology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital Hong Kong, China, discusses the utility of afatinib in patients with lung cancer.

Corey J. Langer, MD, discusses the treatment of patients with early stage lung cancer.

The PD-1 blocking antibody nivolumab continues to demonstrate clinical activity in previously treated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to updated long-term survival data from a phase I trial.

Laurie Gaspar, MD, discusses reducing neurotoxicity in small cell lung cancer patients.

Paul A. Bunn, Jr, MD, explains how patients with advanced-stage lung cancer benefit from tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs)

Silvia Novello, MD, PhD, discusses the use of chemotherapy in lung cancer.

Giorgio V. Scagliotti, MD, PhD, discusses toxicities related to chemotherapy and surgery in patients with lung cancer.

David P. Carbone, MD, PhD, describes variations in the accuracy and availability of genetic testing technologies for patients with lung cancer.

Laurie Gaspar, MD, Professor and Chair Department of Radiation Oncology, Grohne Chair in Clinical Oncology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, discusses the risk of pneumonitis from radiation among patients with lung cancer.

Tony S.K. Mok, BMSc, MD, FRCPC, professor, Department of Clinical Oncology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital Hong Kong, China, discusses different plasma testing approaches for patients with lung cancer.

Harvey I. Pass, MD, discusses some of the challenges of treating patients with mesothelioma

MK-3475, an investigational immunotherapy, has demonstrated an objective response rate (ORR) of up to 24% in patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to interim results from a phase Ib expansion study.

Heather Wakelee, MD, discusses the results of the AVAPERL trial.

Individualized treatment protocols for patients are becoming increasingly important in the management of NSCLC. Consequently, drug research continues to focus on regimens that select therapy according to the molecular characteristics of the tumor.

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, discusses targeting PD-1 and PD-L1 when treating patients with lung cancer.

Heather Wakelee, MD, discusses maintenance therapy for patients with lung cancer.

Julie R. Brahmer, MD, discusses tumor vaccines for patients with lung cancer.

Harvey I. Pass, MD, discusses blood-based markers in lung cancer.

Silvia Novello, MD, PhD, discusses some of the grey areas in lung cancer care.

Over the past two decades, there has been a shift away from indiscriminate cell-killing by anticancer agents toward the development of more specific drugs that target key aspects of cancer cell biology.

Bonnie Addario, a lung cancer survivor, discusses toxicities involved during lung cancer treatment.

Corey J. Langer, MD, from the Abramson Cancer Center, discusses recent advancements in treating an ALK mutation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Giorgio V. Scagliotti, MD, PhD, from the University of Turin, San Luigi Hospital, Orbassano, Italy, discusses afatinib in patients with EGFR-mutated tumors.

D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, comments on the subgroup analysis of the PROFILE 1007 trial, which looked at crizotinib versus either pemetrexed or docetaxel in NSCLC.