Lung Cancer

Nivolumab as monotherapy or in combination with ipilimumab may present a new second- or third-line treatment option for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, based on preliminary findings from a phase II trial where nivolumab alone or in the combination improved disease control and prolonged survival in patients with this rare but aggressive cancer.

In patients with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer, the second-generation TKI inhibitor alectinib (Alecensa) delayed progression by an additional 15 months compared with the standard-of-care crizotinib (Xalkori).

The frontline combination of pembrolizumab, pemetrexed, and carboplatin reduced the risk of progression or death by 50% and nearly doubled objective response rates compared with chemotherapy alone for patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC.

Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, MD, professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses treatment options for patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

John V. Heymach, MD, PhD, chairman, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the significance of nivolumab (Opdivo) for patients with lung cancer.

This review will focus on current therapies used in the first-line setting for advanced EGFR mutation positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) followed by emerging data that may lead to a transition in the choice for initial therapy in these patients.

Lurbinectedin (PM01183 or PM1183), a transcription inhibitor that induces DNA double-strand breaks, is being combined with doxorubicin in a phase III trial for patients with recurrent small cell lung cancer in the hopes of providing a superior option to the current standard-of-care second-line chemotherapy.

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will allow first-line use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for non–small cell lung cancer as part of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Anna Farago, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses opportunities for the development of biomarkers for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Eric Lambright, MD, discusses the ongoing role of surgery in the treatment of patients with lung cancer.

Key opinion leaders spoke with OncLive to share the top-5 abstracts they find to be the most exciting and/or potentially practice-changing across breast cancer, lung cancer, genitourinary cancers, gastrointestinal cancers, hematologic malignancies, and supportive care being presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Susan Garwood, MD, discusses biopsy advancements and the future of techniques in lung cancer.

Less than 2 years after checkpoint blockade immunotherapy first became available for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab is poised to reshape the treatment paradigm for previously untreated individuals without molecular mutations.

Melissa L. Johnson, MD, medical oncologist, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses potential immunotherapy regimens for patients with lung cancer.

H. Jack West, MD, a thoracic oncologist of Swedish Cancer Institute at Swedish Medical Center, discusses the FDA approval of ceritinib (Zykadia) as a first-line treatment for patients with ALK-positive, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The FDA has approved ceritinib (Zykadia) for the treatment of patients with ALK-positive, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended approval of ceritinib (Zykadia) for the treatment of patients with ALK-positive, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer, according to Novartis, the manufacturer of the second-generation ALK inhibitor.

Adjuvant gefitinib reduced the risk of disease recurrence by 40% versus standard chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-positive non­–small cell lung cancer, study reports.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to entrectinib for use as a treatment for adult and pediatric patients with NTRK-positive, locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors who have either progressed following prior therapies or who have no acceptable standard therapies.

An epigenetic strategy under study at Cleveland Clinic combines THU, a cytidine deaminase inhibitor, with decitabine and nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The results of early studies demonstrate that THU may help prime the immune system.

Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, discusses the rapid therapeutic changes in NSCLC and the sequencing questions physicians are currently asking.