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Review
. 2018 Jan 9:10:1758834017745012.
doi: 10.1177/1758834017745012. eCollection 2018.

Combination of immunotherapy with targeted therapies in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Irene Moya-Horno  1 , Santiago Viteri  2 , Niki Karachaliou  3 , Rafael Rosell  4
Affiliations
Review

Combination of immunotherapy with targeted therapies in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Irene Moya-Horno et al. Ther Adv Med Oncol. .

Abstract

Treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been significantly improved in recent years with the incorporation of drugs targeting antiangiogenesis and more specifically genomic alterations such as the EGFR mutations and ALK translocations. However, most patients invariably progress and die. The emergence of immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the pathways involved in tumor-induced immunosuppression have redefined the management of the disease, achieving significant long-lasting responses with manageable safety profiles, regardless of histology. Still, response rates with immunotherapy are deemed suboptimal. Current efforts are focusing on new potential combination strategies with synergistic antitumor activity, using immune checkpoint blockade as a partner for targeted agents. Herein we discuss the available data on the combined use of immunotherapy, including PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors, with EGFR and ALK inhibitors and comment on the current status of immunotherapy plus antiangiogenic drugs for molecularly unselected advanced NSCLC.

Keywords: advanced NSCLC; immunotherapy; targeted therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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