Dr. Besse Discusses Challenges Facing Stage IV NSCLC

Benjamin Besse, MD, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, Paris Sud University, discusses challenges facing the treatment of patients with stage IV non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

One of the current challenges of patients with stage IV NSCLC is the options for treatment in third-line setting, Besse says in an interview during the 2018 European Lung Cancer Congress, which is a joint collaboration between ESMO and the IASLC. Currently, there are 2 lines of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. However, in the third-line setting, there are no approved agents but erlotinib (Tarceva), which has poor activity in unselected populations.

Necitumumab (Portrazza), an antibody that targets EGFR, is approved in the first-line setting in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for patients with squamous NSCLC. Since this combination has activity, necitumumab is being investigated in combination with abemaciclib (Verzenio) as there is some biological rationale for combining those 2 drugs, Besse explains.