FROM THE JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has updated its clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy for stage IV non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), incorporating recommendations on using checkpoint inhibitors in these patients.
The guideline was published recently on the Journal of Clinical Oncology website (J Clin Oncol. 2017 Aug 14. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2017.74.6065).
Among the recommendations is that, for patients with non–squamous cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma without positive markers such as epidermal growth factor receptor who have high programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, first-line treatment should be pembrolizumab alone. For those with low PD-L1 expression, standard chemotherapy should be used.
For second-line treatment in patients who received first-line chemotherapy without prior immune checkpoint treatment, if the NSCLC tumor is positive for PD-L1 expression, single-agent nivolumab, pembrolizumab, or atezolizumab should be used.
The guideline is an update of its 2015 recommendations. An expert panel made the changes after a systematic review of randomized controlled trials from February 2014 to December 2016.
Panelists said that there’s still a lot to learn about the use of checkpoint inhibitors in these patients.
“Cancer immunotherapy allows some patients to live longer with a better quality of life than chemotherapy; however, not all patients respond to this treatment,” panelists wrote. “Many factors remain unknown in the understanding of optimal sequencing of immune checkpoint therapy and other agents previously recommended in ASCO guidelines. Contraindications to receiving immune checkpoint therapy are not yet well defined.”
Several panelists report receiving research funding and/or consulting fees from Merck, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Peloton Therapeutics, Genentech, and other companies.
