Achievements and futures of immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been threatening human health for years. Cytotoxicity-based chemotherapy seems to reach plateau in NSCLC treatment. Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) against programmed cell death 1 (PD-1/L1) axis are to provide long-term survival benefits for wild-type advanced NSCLC patients with acceptable adverse effects. Though beneficiary population is limited from monotherapy, combination strategies are expanding indicators. Retrospective evidences suggested ICIs are also potentially useful for brain metastasis. Furthermore, the combination of ICIs and surgery are to prolong progression free survival time for local advanced patients. Additionally, novel agents targeting in immune checkpoints other than PD-1/L1 demonstrated potential values in anticancer immunity. Herein, we summarize the novel therapies of checkpoint inhibitors in NSCLC treatment and some other potential immunotherapy to provide a conspectus for novel immunotherapy in NSCLC and perspective for the future in anti-cancer treatment.

Polo‐like kinase 4 correlates with greater tumor size, lymph node metastasis and confers poor survival in non‐small cell lung cancer

“…As the leading cause of cancer‐related deaths worldwide, lung cancer is categorized into non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer with the former occupying 85% of all lung cancer cases . Since the initial presentation, NSCLC patients undergo multiple clinical and molecular examinations before implementation of treatment including clinical work‐up, biopsy, and molecular testing, and apart from surgery, platinum‐based chemotherapy, target therapy, and the novel immune therapy are administered accordingly .…”

Expression patterns of immune checkpoints in acute myeloid leukemia

“…To the Editor, Immune checkpoint (IC) blockade by inhibitors of the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) has significantly improved clinical outcome for a variety of solid tumors [1,2], while little is known about the role of ICs in leukemia [3]. Previous reports have shown that higher numbers of PD-1 + T cells are related to poor outcome for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) [3].…”

Optimizing Patient Outcomes with PD‐1/PD‐L1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for the First‐Line Treatment of Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

“…Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against PD‐1 or PD‐L1, restored tumor‐specific T‐cell immunity and inhibited tumor growth in preclinical models . Initial clinical investigations in patients with metastatic or advanced non–small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) demonstrated efficacy in the second‐ and third‐line settings after failure of standard chemotherapy . Since then, evidence from multiple randomized trials has led to the approval of two ICIs, pembrolizumab (anti‐PD‐1) and atezolizumab (anti‐PD‐L1), for the first‐line treatment of aNSCLC as monotherapy or as part of combination chemoimmunotherapy .…”

“…1 Initial clinical investigations in patients with metastatic or advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) demonstrated efficacy in the second-and thirdline settings after failure of standard chemotherapy. 2 Since then, evidence from multiple randomized trials has led to the approval of two ICIs, pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) and atezolizumab (anti-PD-L1), for the first-line treatment of aNSCLC as monotherapy or as part of combination chemoimmunotherapy. [3][4][5][6] Nivolumab (anti-PD-1) was also studied as first-line monotherapy for aNSCLC (PD-L1 greater than 5%) but was not approved because it did not significantly improve progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).…”