Dr. Langer on Targeted Agents for Locally Advanced NSCLC

Corey J. Langer, MD, Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology Division, University of Pennsylvania, Abramson Cancer Center, discusses the investigation of targeted therapies for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The advent of molecular markers has made the selection of therapies for clinical trials and treatment more sophisticated, Langer notes. Currently, in stage IV NSCLC it is established that patients with an EGFR mutation respond well to a targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Trials are being designed to test this approach in the locally advanced NSCLC setting as an induction therapy using the EGFR targeted agent erlotinib, Langer explains. This treatment would likely be followed by standard treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. Other trials also plan to investigate the administration of crizotinib for patients with locally advanced NSCLC and an ALK translocation.

Langer notes that molecularly targeted agents will allow researchers to look more specifically at a targeted population, as opposed to a one size fits all model.