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Review
. 2024 Jul 4:30:1611713.
doi: 10.3389/pore.2024.1611713. eCollection 2024.

The role of immunotherapy in early-stage and metastatic NSCLC

Attila Lieber  1 , Attila Makai  1 , Zsuzsanna Orosz  1 , Tamás Kardos  1 , Susil Joe Isaac  1 , Ilona Tornyi  1 , Nóra Bittner  2
Affiliations
Review

The role of immunotherapy in early-stage and metastatic NSCLC

Attila Lieber et al. Pathol Oncol Res. .

Abstract

In the past decade we have seen new advances and thus remarkable progress in the therapeutic options for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Among cytostatic therapies with new approaches in molecularly targeted therapies, we see new developments in a wide range of applications for immunotherapies. In this review we discuss the new potential modalities for the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the frontlines, including in early-stage (perioperative) and metastatic settings. The perioperative use of ICIs in both neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings may show benefits for patients. In early-stage NSCLC (from stage IIB and above) a multimodality approach is recommended as the gold standard for the treatment. After surgical resection platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy has been the standard of care for many years. Based on the benefit of disease-free survival, the approval of adjuvant atezolizumab and adjuvant pembrolizumab was a significant breakthrough. In the metastatic setting, the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy, regardless of PD-L1 expression or ICI alone (PD-L1 expression equal to or greater than 50%) also improves overall survival and progression-free survival.

Keywords: ICI; NSCLC; PD-(L)1; metastatic; perioperative.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The role of immunotherapy in the treatment of NSCLC.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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