Dr. Melissa Johnson on Atezolizumab in Patients With NSCLC
Melissa Johnson, MD, associate director, Lung Cancer Research, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the phase II BIRCH study, which is examining atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in patients with PD-L1–positive locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Melissa Johnson, MD, associate director, Lung Cancer Research, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the phase II BIRCH study, which is examining atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in patients with PD-L1—positive locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The ongoing BIRCH trial is enrolling patients irrespective of line of therapy, Johnson explains. However, all patients must have tumors that express PD-L1. Results that were presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting are of the cohort of patients who received the immunotherapy agent in the frontline setting.
This marks an important clinical trial, because it demonstrates that PD-L1—positive patients will experience a response rate and progression-free survival that should be, at least, equivalent to rates experienced with chemotherapy. Several patients request treatment with immunotherapy for their lung cancer versus chemotherapy, Johnson explains.
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