Dr. Santos on the Utilization of Approved Monotherapies in NSCLC

Edgardo S. Santos, MD, FACP, clinical affiliate associate professor, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, founding partner, Florida Precision Oncology, discusses the utilization of approved monotherapies in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

There are several monotherapies approved across the treatment landscape, not only in the United States, but in other countries as well, Santos says. In the United States, there are currently 3 single-agent checkpoint inhibitors approved including pembrolizumab (Keytruda), atezolizumab (Tecentriq), and cemiplimab (Libtayo), Santos explains. Overall, it has been essential to have these PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors available for use in the armamentarium, Santos adds.

Moreover, monotherapy makes a difference when utilized in NSCLC when the PD-L1 expression is above 50%, Santos continues. Additionally, the approval of cemiplimab in the United States was based on data from the EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial (NCT03088540), Santos says.