While a decade ago the prognosis of lung cancer patients was very disappointing, nowadays a substantial evolution is driven by targeted treatments and immuno-oncology. With extended, scaled genetic diagnostics—including qPCR, digital PCR, Sanger Sequencing, and NGS—becoming broadly available and aligned with evolving options of target treatment, outcome in metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) is overriding a 50% survival proportion after 5 years in subgroups with gene-fusions (e.g., ALK-fusion). This is counterparted by the impact of immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) with and without chemotherapy. Herein, mNSCLC with PD-L1-expression ≥ 50%, a 30% 5-year-survival probability is achieved and ICI is pushing borders over stages in patients with locoregional disease. Here, perioperative ICI implementation carries advancements in outcome and offers “window of opportunities” such as:
- Strategies in the induction treatment scenario,
- Even to delineate candidate biomarkers for further enrichment and patient stratification can be explored.
These parallel advancements of molecular diagnostic capabilities, targeted treatment options, and ICI development are driving the transition of the treatment landscape of lung cancer.
Learning points in this webinar will be:
- Outline the total spectrum of evolving systemic treatment options in non-small cell lung cancer
- Identify the impact of immunotherapy and molecular targeted treatments on patient outcome and the potential relevance of circulating tumor (ct)DNA assessment on guiding treatment
- Discuss the integration of systemic treatment options in the multimodality setting of nonmetastatic locoregional disease