Dr. Chandra Belani on Atezolizumab in NSCLC

Chandra P. Belani, MD, deputy director, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Miriam Beckner Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, discusses atezolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The immunotherapy agent has been studied in both the BIRCH and POPLAR trials. In the BIRCH study, atezolizumab met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a 27% objective response rate in patients whose disease had progressed on prior medicines and also expressed the highest levels of PD-L1.

In the POPLAR study, atezolizumab showed a statistically significant survival benefit compared to docetaxel in recurrent NSCLC patients who had had failed prior chemotherapy. There was an approximant 3-month difference in overall survival with atezolizumab compared to docetaxel.

PD-L1 seems to be a predictor of response and activity in NSCLC for atezolizumab, says Belani.