LUNG CANCER

The future of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is bright, with ongoing studies suggesting that the strategy will lead to a “new world” in the treatment of the disease.

Chandra P. Belani, MD, discusses the VEGF-targeted agent nintedanib (BIBF 1120).

The FDA has granted a Breakthrough Therapy designation to dabrafenib for its potential as a treatment for patients with metastatic BRAF V600E mutation-positive NSCLC who have received at least one prior line of platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Bilal Piperdi, MD, discusses the recent advancements in non-small cell lung cancer treatment and what the future might bring.

LDK378 is a highly selective and potent inhibitor of ALK, and has demonstrated preclinical antitumor activity against tumors with acquired crizotinib resistance. In a phase I trial, LDK378 induced tumor response in 70% of patients with crizotinib-resistant NSCLC.

Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, from Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the advent of more potent ALK inhibitors such as LDK378 and the treatment of ALK-positive lung cancer patients with crizotinib.

Naiyer A. Rizvi, MD, discusses the phenomenon of pseudoprogression in patients with lung cancer after they receive immunotherapy treatment.

Between 2007 and 2011, a collaboration among clinical oncologists, pathologists, and industry scientists led to the identification of a new molecularly defined subset of NSCLC, followed by the finding that crizotinib, then under development as a MET inhibitor, was an inhibitor of ALK.

Frederick Alan Rapoport, MD, discusses the results of the SALT 1 and SALT 2 studies, which measured the efficacy of tolvaptan (Samsca) in patients with euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia

Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, discusses using crizotinib to treat patients with ALK-positive lung cancer.

MPDL3280A produced durable responses in studies in patients with forms of locally advanced/metastatic cancers, including smokers with NSCLC who customarily have poorer responses to cancer therapies than nonsmokers.

Naiyer A. Rizvi, MD, an associate attending physician, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies in development for the treatment of lung cancer.

PD-L1 expression in tumors is a candidate molecular marker warranting further investigation as a means to select patients for immunotherapy with an anti PD-1 antibody

Julie R. Brahmer, MD, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the outlook for immunotherapies in cancer care.

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).

Today, the treatment options for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the United States include targeted therapies aimed at angiogenesis (bevacizumab), EGFR mutations (erlotinib and afatinib), and ALK translocations (crizotinib).

Testing for genetic abnormalities is important in NSCLC, both to ensure that as many patients as possible are benefit from approved therapies and to advance understanding of more targets that may be able to lead to future treatments.

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.