Dr. Herbst on Combination Therapies for Lung Cancer

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, ensign professor of Medicine, professor of Pharmacology, chief of Medical Oncology, associate director for Translational Research, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, discusses combination therapies for patients with lung cancer.

Now that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has moved to the first-line setting, researchers are looking at combinations involving the agent, explains Herbst. Combinations such as pembrolizumab plus the VEGF inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza), pembrolizumab and a CTLA-4 inhibitor, as well as pembrolizumab and a targeted agent, are all being investigated.

There are also studies looking at genetics and immunohistochemistry to determine certain characteristics of patients who respond well to treatments versus patients who do not respond.