EGFR+ Lung Cancer

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose disease&nbsp;has metastasized to the brain can do without whole-brain&nbsp;radiotherapy, according to a study published in&nbsp;<em>Lancet.</em>

Howard L. &ldquo;Jack&rdquo; West, MD, thoracic oncologist of Swedish Cancer Institute at Swedish Medical Center, discusses the combination of erlotinib plus bevacizumab (Avastin) as a frontline treatment for patients with unresectable advanced, metastatic, or recurrent&nbsp;<em>EGFR</em>-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Catherine Shu, MD, medical oncologist, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center, discusses two clinical trials exploring the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

The majority of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer do not harbor an actionable marker, calling for future research into optimal therapies and combinations for patients with non-driver adenocarcinoma.

The promising clinical efficacy seen with the combination of erlotinib and bevacizumab as a treatment for patients with <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer warrants widespread consideration.

Raymond Osarogiagbon, MD, medical oncologist, Baptist Memorial Medical Group, discusses the significance of surgery quality in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Several practice-changing developments are on the horizon in subsets of non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

Targeted therapies have revolutionized the treatment of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer; however, not all patients harbor identifiable driver mutations. Standard treatment options among patients lacking molecular targets include chemotherapy and antiangiogenesis agents.&nbsp;

The pathological response following pre-operative cisplatin, pemetrexed, and bevacizumab treatment may serve as a surrogate marker for post-surgical recurrence-free survival in patients with non-squamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

Sonja Althammer, PhD, Team Leader Bioinformatics at Definiens, discusses a study looking to define a subgroup of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who respond best to treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab.

The presence of both PD-L1&ndash;positive and CD8+ cells may help to predict response in patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with durvalumab (MEDI4736), according to findings presented during a late-breaking abstract session at the <em>SITC 31st Annual Meeting &amp; Associated Programs</em>. Sonja Althammer, PhD, presented on the correlation between improved survival rates to durvalumab treatment and high CD8+ and PD-L1+ cell densities.&nbsp;

Ensartinib (X-396), a novel small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) developed to target patients with ALK-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), demonstrated promising clinical activity in that subset of patients who are crizotinib (Xalkori)-na&iuml;ve or crizotinib-resistant.

An overview of the data and rationale that led to the approval of nivolumab and&nbsp;pembrolizumab for NSCLC, with an emphasis on specific patient&nbsp;populations likely to benefit from this approach and future&nbsp;directions for clinical research in this area.

Resection of stage I lung adenocarcinoma can lead to 5-year survival rates of up to 87%, but whether adjuvant therapy can improve overall survival (OS) in this subset of patients is not yet clear.

James Allison, PhD, discusses exciting advancements in immunotherapy combinations, the potential synergistic effects of radiation with immunotherapies, and considerations that must be made when combining other agents with immunotherapy.

A new drug application for brigatinib for patients with metastatic ALK-positive NSCLC who are resistant to prior crizotinib (Xalkori) has been granted priority review by the FDA.

A recent phase III trial showed custirsen combined with docetaxel failed to significantly extend overall survival (OS) compared with docetaxel alone as a second-line treatment for patients with NSCLC.

David L. Rimm, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and of medicine, director of pathology tissue services, director of translational pathology, Yale Cancer Center, discusses the future role of PD-L1 testing in lung cancer.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has received FDA approval for the frontline treatment of patients with metastatic non&shy;&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have &ge;50% PD-L1 expression based on an FDA-approved test and who do not harbor EGFR or ALK aberrations.

Heather Wakelee, MD, associate professor of medicine at Stanford University Medical Center, discusses a recent trial looking at atezolizumab for NSCLC treatment.

Puneeth Iyengar, MD, PhD, radiation oncologist, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, discusses the two potential roles immunotherapy could play in the treatment of NSCLC.

Atezolizumab has received FDA approval for the treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC who have progressed after a platinum-containing regimen and an FDA-approved targeted therapy for those patients harboring <em>EGFR</em> or <em>ALK</em> abnormalities.&nbsp;

Although there are no drugs yet that target TP53 mutations in any tumor type, a recent analysis of a non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) sample set raises the prospect that a more detailed understanding of this aberration could eventually help direct therapy.

Lars Bastholt, MD, clinical oncologist, Odense University Hospital, discusses the role of lenvatinib in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Benjamin P. Levy, MD, discusses how Myriad&#39;s myPlan addresses the risk of recurrence in lung cancer.

Results of a recent randomized trial showed first-line therapy with nivolumab failed to improve progression-free survival (PFS) in PD-L1&ndash;positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with standard chemotherapy.

Almost 40% of patients with resected early-stage non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had evidence of tumor regression following neoadjuvant treatment with nivolumab (Opdivo) in a preliminary clinical trial.

EGFR Testing for Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Jonathan W. Riess, MD, MS