Lung Cancer

Advances in precision medicine and biomarker testing are transforming lung cancer treatment, offering hope through targeted therapies and innovative approaches.

Artificial intelligence holds promise for detecting lung cancer if research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer is any indicator.

Patients diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer displayed higher proportions of EGFR mutations compared to those without.

Madrid, Spain—A perioperative regimen of neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) plus chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant nivolumab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in event-free survival versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus placebo followed by surgery and adjuvant placebo in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer.

Madrid, Spain—Results from 3 phase 3 clinical trials demonstrated the superiority of targeted therapies over conventional chemotherapy in patients with oncogene-addicted non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including ALK-positive advanced NSCLC; EGFR exon 20 insertion-mutation–positive, newly diagnosed or advanced NSCLC; and advanced RET fusion–positive NSCLC. These findings were reported during the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2023.

On August 9, 2023, the FDA granted regular approval to pralsetinib (Gavreto; Genentech), a kinase inhibitor of wild-type RET and oncogenic RET fusions and mutations, for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and RET fusion–positive gene mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test.

On December 12, 2022, the FDA accelerated the approval of adagrasib (Krazati; Mirati Therapeutics), a RAS GTPase inhibitor, for adults with locally advanced or metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and KRAS^G12C mutation (as determined by an FDA-approved test) who have received at least 1 systemic therapy.

On January 26, 2023, the FDA approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda; Merck), a PD-1 inhibitor, as monotherapy for adjuvant treatment of patients with stage IB (T2a ≥4 cm), II, or IIIA non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), after resection and platinum-based chemotherapy.

Two weeks after the initial approval of tremelimumab (Imjudo; AstraZeneca), a CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody, on November 10, 2022, the FDA approved this new immunotherapy, in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi; AstraZeneca) and platinum-based chemotherapy, for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and no EGFR or ALK genomic alterations.

For this supplement, expert faculty provided detailed perspectives based on their extensive experience in the management of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), focusing on the incorporation and importance of biomarker testing in precision medicine for improved patient care.