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LUNG CANCER IN 2018

A banner year for immunotherapy and targeted therapy

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 16, pages 79–80 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

In 2018, advances in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been observed both in trials of immunotherapies and targeted agents, leading to dramatically improved options for patients with metastatic and stage III NSCLC.

Key advances

  • Combination of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) with chemotherapy extends survival regardless of PD-L1 expression4,5.

  • New-generation targeted agents improve outcomes for patients with EGFR or ALK-driven disease8,9.

  • Patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC can benefit from consolidation therapy with durvalumab following chemoradiation11.

Advances in immune-checkpoint inhibition (ICI) and molecularly targeted therapy have revolutionized the treatment options for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Accounting for nearly 85% of all cases of lung cancer, NSCLC is diagnosed at an advanced or metastatic stage in >60% of patients. Systemic therapy options for patients with NSCLC continue to improve, and long-term survival for patients with advanced-stage disease is now a reality for a subset of patients. Herein, we highlight some of the important studies presented in 2018 that offer new standard-of-care therapies for patients with NSCLC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Jennifer W. Carlisle & Suresh S. Ramalingam

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  1. Jennifer W. Carlisle
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  2. Suresh S. Ramalingam
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Correspondence to Suresh S. Ramalingam.

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Competing interests

S.S.R. has served as a consultant for Abbvie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Lilly Oncology, Loxo, Merck, Nektar, Roche and Tesaro; has received travel support to attend advisory board meetings from AstraZeneca, EMD Serono and Pfizer; and his institution receives research support from Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squib, EMB Serono, Pfizer, Takeda and Vertex. J.W.C. declares no competing interests.

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Carlisle, J.W., Ramalingam, S.S. A banner year for immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 16, 79–80 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-018-0138-4

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