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Translational Therapeutics

Identifying optimal first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma with high PD-L1 expression: a matter of debate

British Journal of Cancer volume 127, pages 1381–1382 (2022)Cite this article

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Following the advent of several novel treatment options in treatment-naive patients, the challenge of choosing the best first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high PD-L1 expression has emerged [1]. Clinicians are now called to choose between immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) monotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy in wild-type NSCLC [2]. Cross-trials comparisons, albeit being a commonly used tool in clinical practice, should be avoided for decision-making, since all trials assessing ICIs, alone or in combination with chemotherapy, present important differences—e.g., in terms of the patient population, primary endpoints, and length of median follow-up.

In the current systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) published by Wang et al., the authors pulled together 22 randomised controlled clinical trials encompassing a total of 4289 NSCLC patients [3]. According to the results of the NMA, Wang and colleagues suggested that chemoimmunotherapy was associated with a statistically significant improvement in overall response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS) when compared with immune checkpoint inhibitors, while no significant overall survival (OS) differences were observed [3].

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  1. Struttura Semplice Dipartimentale di Oncologia Medica per la Presa in Carico Globale del Paziente Oncologico “Don Tonino Bello”, I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II,”, Viale Orazio Flacco 65, Bari, 70124, Italy

    Alessandro Rizzo

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  1. Alessandro Rizzo
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Correspondence to Alessandro Rizzo.

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Rizzo, A. Identifying optimal first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma with high PD-L1 expression: a matter of debate. Br J Cancer 127, 1381–1382 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-022-01929-w

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