Dr. Brahmer on Immunotherapy Development in Lung Cancer

Julie R. Brahmer, MD, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses immunotherapy and how it can advance as a treatment option for patients with lung cancer.

A continued and deeper understanding of lung cancer is necessary to understand how the disease shields itself from the immune system. Brahmer adds there should be more research on developing therapies that will target the immune system in various ways, and how they can possibly be combined with standard therapies.

The most important step for advancing immunotherapy is personalizing the treatment, Brahmer says. Such steps are already in the works, she adds, by seeking biomarkers for anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 agents.

However, the necessary technology is not advancing at the rate in which these treatments are, Brahmer says.