The integration of radiotherapy with immunotherapy for the treatment of non–small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Five-year survival rates for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) range from 14% to 49% for stage I to stage IIIA disease, and are <5% for stage IIIB/IV disease. Improvements have been made in the outcomes of patients with NSCLC due to advancements in radiotherapy (RT) techniques, the use of concurrent chemotherapy with RT, and the emergence of immunotherapy as first- and second-line treatment in the metastatic setting. RT remains the mainstay treatment in patients with inoperable early-stage NSCLC and is given concurrently or sequentially with chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced unresectable disease. There is emerging evidence that RT not only provides local tumor control but also may influence systemic control. Multiple preclinical studies have demonstrated that RT induces immunomodulatory effects in the local tumor microenvironment, supporting a synergistic combination approach with immunotherapy to improve systemic control. Immunotherapy options that could be combined with RT include programmed cell death-1/programmed cell death ligand-1 blockers, as well as investigational agents such as OX-40 agonists, toll-like receptor agonists, indolea-mine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 inhibitors, and cytokines. Here, we describe the rationale for the integration of RT and immunotherapy in patients with NSCLC, present safety and efficacy data that support this combination strategy, review planned and ongoing studies, and highlight unanswered questions and future research needs.