Dr. Langer on the Benefit of Durvalumab in Stage III NSCLC

Corey J. Langer, MD, director, Thoracic Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, professor of medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, discusses the impact of durvalumab (Imfinzi) in stage III non—small cell lung cancer.

Immunotherapy’s expansion into stage III disease has transformed the landscape, Langer says. For 20 years, research was conducted in this setting looking at chemoradiation versus chemoradiation plus other agents like cetuximab (Erbitux), but these were all negative trials. However, the PACIFIC trial was strikingly positive, says Langer. Progression-free survival was nearly tripled when durvalumab was added to concurrent chemoradiation, at 17.2 months versus 5.6 months with placebo.

Langer adds that every patient with stage III disease who does not develop pneumonitis or progressive disease after chemoradiation should receive durvalumab for up to 1 year. As a result of the PACIFIC data, there is now great interest in moving checkpoint inhibitors upfront to be given concurrently with chemoradiation, he adds.