Immunotherapy and Vaccination in Surgically Resectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Early-stage NSCLC (stages I and II, and some IIIA diseases) accounts for approximately 30% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases, with surgery being its main treatment modality. The risk of disease recurrence and cancer-related death, however, remains high among NSCLC patients after complete surgical resection. In previous studies on the long-term follow-up of post-operative NSCLC, the results showed that the five-year survival rate was about 65% for stage IB and about 35% for stage IIIA diseases. Platinum-based chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy has been used as a neoadjuvant therapy or post-operative adjuvant therapy in NSCLC, but the improvement of survival is limited. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have effectively improved the 5-year survival of advanced NSCLC patients. Cancer vaccination has also been explored and used in the prevention of cancer or reducing disease recurrence in resected NSCLC. Here, we review studies that have focused on the use of immunotherapies (i.e., ICIs and vaccination) in surgically resectable NSCLC. We present the results of completed clinical trials that have used ICIs as neoadjuvant therapies in pre-operative NSCLC. Ongoing clinical trials investigating ICIs as neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies are also summarized. READ ARTICLE

Vaccines DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9070689

Authors: Chiu L.-C., Lin S.-M., Lo Y.-L., Kuo S.C.-H., Yang C.-T. and Hsu P.-C.

Review Paper, group5Kirk SmithJune 23, 2021immunotherapy, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC, cancer vaccination, early stage, surgery

"Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Monotherapy for Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer with ALK Rearrangement"

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is a predictor of immune checkpoint
inhibitor (ICI) treatment e cacy. The clinical e cacy of ICIs for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
patients harboring major mutations, such as EGFR or ALK mutations, is limited. We genotyped
190 patients with advanced lung adenocarcinomas who received nivolumab or pembrolizumab
monotherapy, and examined the e cacy in NSCLC patients with or without major mutations.
Among the patients enrolled in the genotyping study, 47 patients harbored EGFR mutations, 25 patients
had KRAS mutations, 5 patients had a HER2 mutation, 6 patients had a BRAF mutation, and 7 patients
had ALK rearrangement. The status of PD-L1 expression was evaluated in 151 patients, and the
rate of high PD-L1 expression ( 50%) was significantly higher in patients with ALK mutations.
The progression-free survival was 0.6 (95% CI: 0.2–2.1) months for ALK-positive patients and 1.8 (95%
CI: 1.2–2.1) months for EGFR-positive patients. All patients..... READ ARTICLE

International Journal of Molecular Sciences DOI:10.3390/ijms21072623

Authors: Yuko Oya, Hiroaki Kuroda, Takeo Nakada, Yusuke Takahashi, Noriaki Sakakura, Toyoaki Hida

Real-World OutcomesKirk SmithApril 9, 2020ALK, EGFR, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), adenocarcinoma