Basic Cancer Info

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are now becoming approved and commercially available for patients with previously treated advanced NSCLC. Dr. Eddie Garon, medical oncologist at UCLA, summarizes key data and explains their current role in treatment.

Drs. Ben Solomon, Leora Horn, & Jack West consider how valuable testing for PD-L1 expression is in clinical practice and whether it should be integrated in clinical decision making around immunotherapies.

Dr. Ben Levy discusses two trials that are trying to determine if immunotherapy can help lung cancer patients with earlier stage disease. Click here for information about the PACIFIC trial. The lung cancer vaccine trial will begin in early 2016.

Dr. Nathan Pennell discusses ALCHEMIST, an NCI-sponsored clinical trial looking at whether targeted post-op (adjuvant) therapy for patients with a driver mutation such as EGFR mutation or ALK rearrangement improves survival.

Drs. Leora Horn, Ben Solomon, & Jack West consider whether the data suggest that the better tested PD1 and PD-L1 inhibitors have differences in activity or tolerability or are essentially interchangeable.

MSKCC medical oncologist Dr. Greg Riely reviews the optimal first line treatment of patients with an EGFR mutation-positive advanced lung cancer.

Drs. Leora Horn, Ben Solomon, & Jack West review early promising data on the potential activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Drs. Ben Solomon, Leora Horn, & Jack West discuss highlights of a French randomized trial that demonstrated a significant survival benefit from addition of Avastin (bevacizumab) to cisplatin/Alimta in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Drs. Ben Solomon, Leora Horn, & Jack West review trial result and implications of ECOG 1505 trial that showed no benefit to addition of Avastin (bevacizumab) to adjuvant chemotherapy for early stage NSCLC.

Dr. Eddie Garon from UCLA Medical Center reviews the general mechanism of action of immune checkpoint inhibitors and how they can be an effective therapy in lung cancer.