By Karen L. Reckamp, MD, MS Posted: March 1, 2019  Dr. Karen L. Reckamp Identification of genetic alterations in NSCLC has transformed diagnosis and treatment for patients with advanced disease. Identification of activating mutations in the EGFR gene in 2004 started the shift in our understanding of the complex biology of molecular subtypes of lung…

Posted: March 1, 2019 In the following interview, Jamie E. Chaft, MD, a medical oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses new data on induction immunotherapy for patients with resectable NSCLC as well as the recently published summary paper on the IASLC–U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) summit on neoadjuvant therapies.1 Q: What…

By Stephen V. Liu, MD Posted: March 1, 2019 Dr. Stephen V. Liu The addition of atezolizumab to standard chemotherapy for extensive-stage SCLC achieved what, for decades, had been beyond reach: an improvement in survival in this disease. Since the 1980s, our standard of care for SCLC has been a platinum chemotherapy agent plus etoposide.…

This article is the first in a two-part series on ongoing challenges using immunotherapy in special populations. The second part of this series focuses on elderly patients. By Valérie Gounant, MD, and Elisabeth Quoix, MD, PhD Posted: December 11, 2019 Since the beginning of the 21st century, there have been two major innovations in the treatment of…

Posted: December 2018 In the following interview, Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, MD, Jay and Lori Eisenberg Distinguished Professor of Medicine and section chief of Thoracic Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the findings and implications of IMpower132. Q: Please explain the findings of IMpower132.A: IMpower132 was a global, randomized, open-label,…

By Ross Soo, MB BS, PhD, FRACP Posted: December 2018 The treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC harbouring an actionable oncogene with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) directed at its oncogenic molecular alteration represents one of the most significant advances in lung cancer management. Another area of achievement in the treatment of advanced NSCLC has been…

By Mariano Provencio-Pulla, MD, PhD Posted: December 2018 Patients with stage IIIA NSCLC with clinically evident N2 nodal spread have an overall 5-year survival rate of only 10% to 15%. The aims of therapy in stage III disease are to increase both locoregional and systemic control of the disease. Because distant metastases remain the major…

By Kara Nyberg, PhD Posted: August 2018 The pace of research focused on new therapies for advanced NSCLC has progressed from a trot to a sprint in recent years. Among immunotherapy options, pembrolizumab emerged as an early frontrunner, along with nivolumab and atezolizumab, in the second-line treatment setting. Pembrolizumab now appears to be surging ahead…

By D. Ross Camidge, MD, and Mary W. Redman, PhD Posted: August 2018 Updates of the primary analysis of the phase III ALEX trial were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting this year.1,2 ALEX was a first-line trial of crizotinib versus alectinib in advanced ALK-positive NSCLC, and the primary endpoint was…

By Kara Nyberg, PhD Posted: August 2018 Treatment advances for metastatic squamous cell carcinoma have long lagged behind those for other NSCLC subtypes, forcing patients with this difficult-to-treat disease to settle with platinum-based chemotherapy as the best treatment option. But the tide now appears to be turning. As presented at the American Society of Clinical…