Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Sep;8(Suppl 2):S139-S146.
doi: 10.21037/tlcr.2019.09.04.

PACIFIC: shifting tides in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Andrew Bang  1 , Jonathan D Schoenfeld  1 , Alexander Y Sun  2
Affiliations
Review

PACIFIC: shifting tides in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Andrew Bang et al. Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

The treatment paradigm of stage III, unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has had few advancement since concurrent chemoradiotherapy was established as standard of care treatment. Despite modifications to radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgical approaches, loco-regional and distant relapse remain high, which unfortunately has translated to poor survival outcomes. The PACIFIC study introduced immunotherapy to the domain of stage III NSCLC and has emerged as the fourth pillar in cancer treatment for these patients. The positive results of the study have excited both the radiation and medical oncology communities, demonstrating improvements in overall and progression-free survival (PFS). In this review, we discuss the details and impacts of the PACIFIC study, as well as the future implications for the treatment of stage III NSCLC.

Keywords: PACIFIC; chemoradiation; immunotherapy; non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: JD Schoenfeld reports research funding from Merck and BMS and consulting for BMS, AZ, Nanobiotix, Debiopharm, Tilos, LEK and Catenion. AY Sun reports Speakers Bureau and Advisory Board for AZ. A Bang has no conflicts of interest to declare.

References

    1. Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjamatarm I, et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2018; 68:394-424. 10.3322/caac.21492 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aupérin A, Le Pechoux C, Rolland E, et al. Meta-analysis of concomitant versus sequential radiochemotherapy in locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 2010; 28:2181-90. 10.1200/JCO.2009.26.2543 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bradley JD, Hu C, Komaki RU, et al. Long-Term Results of RTOG 0617: A Randomized Phase 3 Comparison of Standard Dose Versus High Dose Conformal Chemoradiation Therapy +/- Cetuximab for Stage III NSCLC. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2017;99:S105 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.06.250 - DOI
    1. Veenstra CM, Vachani A, Ciunci CA, et al. Trends in the Use of 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose PET Imaging in Surveillance of Non-Small-Cell Lung and Colorectal Cancer. J Am Coll Radiol 2016;13:491-6. 10.1016/j.jacr.2015.11.016 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bradley JD, Paulus R, Komaki R, et al. Standard-dose versus high-dose conformal radiotherapy with concurrent and consolidation carboplatin plus paclitaxel with or without cetuximab for patients with stage IIIA or IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer (RTOG 0617): a randomized, two-by-two factorial phase 3 study. Lancet Oncol 2015;16:187-99. 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)71207-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed