George R. Simon, MD, FACP, FCCP, professor of medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses how the introduction of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with locally advanced, stage III non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has affected prognosis.

More recently, there have been reports that after patients complete concurrent chemoradiation regimens for locally advanced NSCLC, giving durvalumab (Imfinzi) for maintenance therapy for about 1 year improved progression-free survival (PFS). The overall survival data are still pending. The improvement in PFS is significantly higher than the administration of chemoradiation alone.

There are other studies that are investigating the use of immunotherapy in these patients such as the use of atezolizumab (Tecentriq). This is the first significant advance in stage III disease that physicians have seen in a while where an intervention has improved survival over concurrent chemoradiation alone.

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George R. Simon, MD, FACP, FCCP, professor of medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses how the introduction of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with locally advanced, stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has affected prognosis.

Dr. Simon on the Impact of Immunotherapy Agents in NSCLC

George R. Simon, MD, FACP, FCCP, professor of medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses durvalumab (Imfinzi) for patients with lung cancer.

Durvalumab, a PD-L1 inhibitor, recently demonstrated improved progression-free survival after patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) received definitive concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy in the PACIFIC trial. Durvalumab is currently in the process of getting FDA approval, says Simon.

The combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with carboplatin and pemetrexed in the first-line setting for NSCLC has already been approved. The CheckMate 227 trial is currently investigating the combination of durvalumab and the CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab (Yervoy) in multiple diseases, explains Simon.

George R. Simon, MD, FACP, FCCP

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Dr. Simon on the Impact of Immunotherapy Agents in NSCLC

Dr. Simon on Durvalumab for Patients With Lung Cancer