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
. 2021 Nov 29;10(23):5614.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10235614.

Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Immunotherapy in Early-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Past, Present, and Future

Chun Ho Szeto  1 , Walid Shalata  2 , Alexander Yakobson  2 , Abed Agbarya  3
Affiliations
Review

Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Immunotherapy in Early-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Past, Present, and Future

Chun Ho Szeto et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Lung cancer is worldwide the most common malignancy. Standard of care treatments for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) include surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. However, these patients continue to have poor prognosis due to systemic or local relapse. Immunotherapy has been considered as a novel approach to improve survival in patients with early-stage NSCLC. Since immune checkpoint inhibitors have transformed the treatment of advanced NSCLC, there is a growing interest in the role of immunotherapy in early-stage NSCLC. In this review, we summarize reported and ongoing clinical trials of immunotherapy in both neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. We also highlight unaddressed issues in this field of research, such as the predictive markers, the optimal combination therapy, and the need for adjuvant immunotherapy. More studies are needed to optimize the treatment regimen of immunotherapy in patients with early-stage NSCLC.

Keywords: adjuvant; immune checkpoint inhibitors; immunotherapy; neoadjuvant; non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Sung H., Ferlay J., Siegel R.L., Laversanne M., Soerjomataram I., Jemal A., Bray F. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2021;71:209–249. doi: 10.3322/caac.21660. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Siegel R.L., Miller K.D., Fuchs H.E., Jemal A. Cancer Statistics, 2021. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2021;71:7–33. doi: 10.3322/caac.21654. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Travis W.D., Brambilla E., Nicholson A.G., Yatabe Y., Austin J.H.M., Beasley M.B., Chirieac L.R., Dacic S., Duhig E., Flieder D.B., et al. The 2015 World Health Organization Classification of Lung Tumors: Impact of Genetic, Clinical and Radiologic Advances since the 2004 Classification. J. Thorac. Oncol. 2015;10:1243–1260. doi: 10.1097/JTO.0000000000000630. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kocher F., Hilbe W., Seeber A., Pircher A., Schmid T., Greil R., Auberger J., Nevinny-Stickel M., Sterlacci W., Tzankov A., et al. Longitudinal analysis of 2293 NSCLC patients: A comprehensive study from the TYROL registry. Lung Cancer. 2015;87:193–200. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2014.12.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Howlader N., Noone A.M., Krapcho M., Miller D., Brest A., Yu M., Ruhl J., Tatalovich Z., Mariotto A., Lewis D.R., et al. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2018. National Cancer Institute; Bethesda, MD, USA: 2021. [(accessed on 21 September 2021)]. Available online: https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2018/

LinkOut - more resources