LUNG CANCER

Single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) reduced the risk of death by 40% and improved progression-free survival (PFS) by 4.3 months compared with doublet chemotherapy for untreated patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with PD-L1 expression on ≥50% of cells, according to findings from the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial.

Benjamin P. Levy, MD, medical director of thoracic medical oncology for Mount Sinai Health Systems and the associate medical director of the cancer clinical trials office for Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, discusses the tools currently available for predicting mortality risk in patients with early stage lung cancer.

Recent randomized clinical trials that have combined immunotherapy with chemotherapy, molecular therapy, or anti-angiogenic therapy for the treatment of patients with lung cancer have shown promising results for these combinations. 

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, discusses the immunotherapy combinations under investigation in NSCLC during the IASLC Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.

The c-MET inhibitor capmatinib (INC280) demonstrated early signals of efficacy with an overall response rate (ORR) of 20% when administered to patients with advanced c-MET–dysregulated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Naiyer Rizvi, MD, director of Thoracic Oncology and Immunotherapy at Columbia University Medical Center, discusses data from the&nbsp;phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial and expressed his optimism about immunotherapy in the NSCLC field.

According to results from the phase III ASCEND-4 trial, ceritinib (Zykadia) improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with standard chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with <em>ALK</em>-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Metastatic Lung Cancer with Jared M. Weiss, MD

Metastatic Lung Cancer with Jared M. Weiss, MD

Don Bergstrom, MD, PhD, chief medical officer, Mersana Therapeutics, discusses the future of XMT-1536 in the treatment of ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Merck, the manufacturer of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), has announced the FDA has granted priority review to a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for the PD-1 inhibitor as a first-line treatment for patients with PD-L1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

James Jett, MD, professor of Medicine Emeritus, National Jewish Health, discusses the use of endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) in the diagnosis of lung cancer.

A new drug application (NDA) has been submitted for brigatinib (AP26113) as a potential treatment for patients with advanced ALK-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following resistance or intolerance to crizotinib (Xalkori).

The optimal use of emerging assays that characterize molecular abnormalities from plasma in late-stage non-small cell lung cancer will be to augment tissue biopsies at initial diagnosis and to evaluate patients for second- and third-line therapies.

ROS1 and TRK are two emerging targets that have significant therapeutic promise for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, although they are not commonly considered while doing mutation testing.

Leptomeningeal metastases are more common in patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who harbor <em>EGFR </em>mutations.&nbsp;Tyrosine kinase inhibitors were found to be the optimal treatment method for these patients, especially if they have not yet received a TKI treatment.

Heather Wakelee, MD, associate professor of Medicine (Oncology), Stanford University Medical Center, discusses the evolving role of bevacizumab (Avastin) in the treatment of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

Nicola Normanno, MD, chief of the Cell Biology and Biotherapy Unit, INT-Fondazione Pascale, Naples, Italy, discusses the recent data showing that plasma can act as a potential alternative to EGFR mutation analysis in the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, as well as the current demands for the use of liquid biopsies in this type of treatment.

Although immunotherapies, such as nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda), have generated great excitement in the field of squamous non-small cell lung cancer, a number of targeted agents are also gaining recognition.

Deciding the sequencing order of therapies for patients with ALK-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a challenge, as new information on next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) comes to light, says Robert Doebele, MD, PhD. Testing for ALK translocations can help to determine which therapies NSCLC patients should be receiving, but questions regarding the sequencing of ALK inhibitors still remain.

Review of the currently available and approved therapeutic agents for the management of metastatic squamous cell NSCLC and clinical trials focusing on targeted therapy.