Abstract

The development of immunotherapy in first-line therapy with anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 has changed the first line treatment algorithm of advanced NSCLC. The anti-PD-(L)1 pembrolizumab, atézolizumab and cemiplimab clearly improve the overall survival in NSCLC with high PD-L1 expression (≥ 50% of tumour cells), comparatively to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Combinations of anti-PD(L)-1 to platinum-based chemotherapy are superior to chemotherapy alone, regardless of PD-L1 level of expression. They represent the 1st line gold-standard when PD-L1 is expressed in less than 50 % of tumour cells and might reduce the risk of early disease progression in comparison with pembrolizumab when PD-L1 ≥ 50%. The room for anti-CTLA-4 + anti-PD(L)-1 combinations which are not available in France remains to be established. Second-line treatment is currently based on chemotherapy, with a platinum-based doublet for patients treated in first line by pembrolizumab alone, and standard second-line chemotherapy options for patients treated by chemotherapy-immunotherapy combinations, i.e. docétaxel regardless of histology or pemetrexed for non-squamous cell carcinoma when not used in first line. Addition of an antiangiogenic agent to docetaxel only achieved a modest improvement of overall survival but neither nintedanib, nor docetaxel is available in France. Combination of paclitaxel and bevacizumab is also an option. Immunotherapy still benefits only a minority of patients whose identification is imperfect, underscoring the need for new strategies based on ne‹ combination amplifying the anti-tumour immune response as well as understanding the mechanisms of resistance to treatment in order to improve these results. Supportive care remains crucial for all patients from the time of diagnosis.1877-1203/© 2023 SPLF. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

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