Dr. Schwartz on the Results of the PACIFIC Trial

Gary Schwartz, MD, Baylor Scott & White Center for Thoracic Surgery, discusses the potential of single-agent durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with stage III, locally advanced, unresectable non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The trial, which was published in November in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed an incredible increase in disease-free survival and progression-free survival. It more than doubled in patients with stage III lung cancer who could not undergo surgery for a variety of reasons. Overall survival data are not yet mature.

Patients in the trial received either chemotherapy and radiation, which was considered definitive in that they were not going to have surgery afterwards, or chemotherapy and radiation followed by immunotherapy. Schwartz says there was an incredible survival benefit seen in those patients. He notes that patients did experience pneumonitis, which is somewhat concerning overall, but it is still too early to comment on.