Watch these interviews on the iPad edition of this issue conducted by Peter Goodwin
Immunotherapy: Standard of Care for Non Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Solange Peters, MD, PhD, Head of the Thoracic Malignancies Program at the University of Lausanne, notes that the recent success of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors suggests that immunotherapy could also play a leading role in fighting non-small cell lung cancer. She discusses promising new immunotherapeutic approaches as well as strategies to manage the toxicities.
Combining Checkpoint Inhibition with Other Therapies for Lung Cancer
Martin Reck, MD, PhD, Head of the Departments of Thoracic Oncology and Clinical Trials at Hospital Grosshansdorf in Germany, discusses the combined use of checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapies with other targeted therapies and chemotherapy in daily oncology practice.
Three-Drug Regimen Best for NSCLC, Even for Older Patients
Nicholas Thatcher, MD, PhD, Professor of Oncology at the University of Manchester, presents evidence from the large SQUIRE multicenter open-label study, showing that older patients with squamous non-small cell lung cancer can benefit from a three-drug regimen that includes the EGFR-targeted agent necitumumab as well as younger patients can.
Mesothelioma: Prior Chemotherapy Found No Bar to Checkpoint Inhibition
Alessandra Curioni Fontecedro, MD, Senior Physician in the Department of Oncology at University Hospital in Zurich, elaborates on the data she reported showing that first- or second-line chemotherapy with cisplatin-pemetrexed or gemcitabine does not preclude the use of checkpoint inhibitor therapy for patients with mesothelioma. In addition, the molecular signatures of sensitivity to therapies targeting checkpoint inhibition pathways were not disturbed by prior chemotherapy.
EGFR Mutation Test Results Needed Before Start of First-Line Therapy for Advanced Lung Cancer
James Spicer, MRCP, PhD, of the Departments of Medical and Experimental Oncology at Guy's Hospital of King's College London, notes that almost one in four patients with advanced lung cancer in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. are not receiving EGFR test results before being started on treatment. As a result, as the data he reported showed, anti-EGFR therapies are not being deployed optimally and outcomes are being negatively impacted.
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