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Review
. 2019 Feb;26(1):37-42.
doi: 10.3747/co.25.4096. Epub 2019 Feb 1.

Perspectives on treatment advances for stage III locally advanced unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer

P K Cheema  1 , J Rothenstein  2 , B Melosky  3 , A Brade  4 , V Hirsh  5
Affiliations
Review

Perspectives on treatment advances for stage III locally advanced unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer

P K Cheema et al. Curr Oncol. 2019 Feb.

Abstract

For more than a decade, there has been no improvement in outcomes for patients with unresectable locally advanced (la) non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc). The standard treatment in that setting is definitive concurrent chemotherapy and radiation (ccrt). Although the intent of treatment is curative, most patients rapidly progress, and their prognosis is poor, with a 5-year overall survival (os) rate in the 15%-25% range. Those patients therefore represent a critical unmet need, warranting expedited approval of, and access to, new treatments that can improve outcomes. The pacific trial, which evaluated durvalumab consolidation therapy after ccrt in unresectable la nsclc, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (pfs) and a significant improvement in os. Durvalumab thus fills a critical unmet need in the setting of unresectable la nsclc and provides a new option for patients treated with curative intent. Here, we review the treatment of unresectable la nsclc, with a focus on the effect of the clinical data for durvalumab.

Keywords: Lung cancer; immunotherapy; stage III disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES We have read and understood Current Oncology’s policy on disclosing conflicts of interest, and we declare the following interests: PKC reports attending advisory boards and receiving honoraria from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol–Myers Squibb, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Takeda, all of which were outside of the submitted work; JR reports attending advisory boards and receiving honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bristol–Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, and Hoffmann–La Roche, all of which were outside the submitted work; PKC and JR were also investigators in the pacific clinical trial; BM reports attending advisory boards and receiving honoraria from AstraZeneca, Merck, Bristol–Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, and Pfizer, all of which were outside the submitted work; AB reports travel support to a conference from Eli Lilly and attending an advisory board for AstraZeneca, both of which were outside the submitted work; VH reports attending advisory boards and receiving honoraria from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol–Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, Hoffmann–La Roche, and AbbVie, all which were outside the submitted work.

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