Emerging Therapies in Squamous NSCLC

In this segment, Dr. Christian Rolfo reviews emerging therapeutic approaches being investigated for patients with advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following progression on immunotherapy. He describes the shift toward novel mechanisms designed to move beyond reuse of PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), combinations of immune checkpoint inhibitors with other agents, bispecific therapies, IL-2-based approaches, and next-generation CTLA-4-directed agents. The discussion highlights selected clinical studies evaluating these strategies, including TROPION-Lung01, CONTACT-01, and early data with an IL-2 and PD-L1-directed approach. Dr. Rolfo also discusses emerging CTLA-4 agents designed with mechanisms intended to address some of the toxicity concerns associated with earlier CTLA-4 inhibition. The panel notes that some early signals appear particularly relevant to squamous NSCLC, while emphasizing that these findings require further confirmation. The discussion underscores the potential importance of histology when developing and evaluating new treatment strategies for squamous NSCLC.