Dr. Kelly on Preliminary Data With Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer

Karen Kelly, MD, associate director for clinical research, University of California (UC) Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and professor of medicine, UC Davis Health, discusses encouraging preliminary data with neoadjuvant immunotherapy in lung cancer.

Immunotherapy works by recognizing tumor antigens and creating specific cytotoxic T cells, says Kelly, which, from available research, appears to be more feasible in the neoadjuvant setting. Notably, in this setting, the highest number of tumor antigens are available to create, activate, and expand cytotoxic T cells.

In preclinical research, it was found that mouse models that received neoadjuvant immunotherapy experienced improved survival. Ultimately, these research efforts resulted in several window of opportunity trials for neoadjuvant immunotherapy in this space, Kelly concludes.