Dr. Hossein Borghaei on Selecting Checkpoint Inhibitors in NSCLC

Hossein Borghaei, DO, associate professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center, discusses selecting between nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab

(Keytruda) in second-line non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

There is no head-to-head comparison of 1 agent versus the other, said Borghaei, so all oncologists have to go on are the clinical data from separate clinical trials. It is always difficult to do cross-trial comparisons, he said.

Scheduling is a factor in decision making, as nivolumab is given every 2 weeks versus pembrolizumab which is given every three weeks.

From a clinical decision-making process, most patients who are now in second-line, as long as they have reasonable performance status and can withstand any potential toxicity that could arise, would be candidates for treatment with either of these agents, said Borghaei.