Pembrolizumab in the treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: A review of current evidence

24Citations
Citations of this article
74Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs) are considered one of the most important breakthroughs in cancer treatment of the past decade; notably, different studies of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have reported impressive clinical activity and durable responses in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These findings have led to the changing of the current therapeutic algorithm of advanced NSCLC, adding a new standard first-line treatment option for patients with PD-L1-positive tumors. Pembrolizumab, a highly selective anti-PD-1 humanized monoclonal antibody, was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) in October 2016 for previously untreated metastatic NSCLC patients whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression, tumor proportion score (TPS) 3/4 50%, as well as for metastatic NSCLC patients whose tumors express PD-L1 with TPS 3/4 1% progressing on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. However, many issues remain outstanding, mainly regarding the identification of an optimal biomarker which can help selecting patients more likely to respond to ICPIs. In this review, we discuss the clinical results obtained so far with the anti-PD-1 pembrolizumab in advanced NSCLC, commenting on the role of PD-L1 as a predictive factor and providing an update of the future perspectives.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Rihawi, K., Gelsomino, F., Sperandi, F., Melotti, B., Fiorentino, M., Casolari, L., & Ardizzoni, A. (2017, September 1). Pembrolizumab in the treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: A review of current evidence. Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1177/1753465817725486

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free