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Immune Checkpoint Blockade: A New Era for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

  • Translational Oncology (L Vecchione, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Oncology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Despite better understanding of it’s molecular biology, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains a challenging disease to treat. Unfortunately, treatment options are still very limited and prognosis for advanced disease is poor. Immune surveillance plays a crucial role in a host’s defence against tumour cells, and this is particular relevant for lung cancer due to it’s high somatic mutational load, which increases the chances for the immune system to recognize cancer cells as ‘non-self’. Novel immunotherapies are emerging as an effective treatment for this disease. In this review, we present the data on immune checkpoint inhibitors for NSCLC, describing their mechanism of action, data efficacy from recent clinical trials, and strategies to select patients more likely to benefit from these agents.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Wilmslow Road, Manchester, UK

    Raffaele Califano & Robert David Morgan

  2. Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK

    Raffaele Califano

  3. Department of Pathology, Aberdeen University School of Medicine, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, UK

    Keith Kerr

  4. Thoracic Oncology Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Giuseppe Lo Russo & Marina Garassino

  5. Division of Medical Oncology, S.G. Moscati Hospital, Avellino, Italy

    Floriana Morgillo & Antonio Rossi

Authors
  1. Raffaele Califano
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  2. Keith Kerr
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Correspondence to Raffaele Califano.

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Conflict of Interest

Raffaele Califano has received compensation from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, MSD, and AstraZeneca for service as a consultant.

Keith Kerr has received compensation from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, MSD, and AstraZeneca for service as a consultant.

Robert David Morgan declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Giuseppe Lo Russo declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Marina Garassino has received compensation (paid to her institution) from Bristol-Myers Squibb, MSD, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly for service as a consultant.

Floriana Morgillo declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Antonio Rossi declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Translational Oncology

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Califano, R., Kerr, K., Morgan, R.D. et al. Immune Checkpoint Blockade: A New Era for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Curr Oncol Rep 18, 59 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-016-0544-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-016-0544-7

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