Dr. Bestvina on the Emerging Role of Neoadjuvant Chemoimmunotherapy in Lung Cancer

Christine Bestvina, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, discusses the emerging role of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy in lung cancer.

In lung cancer, evaluating the efficacy of therapies utilized in later-line settings as earlier-line options is an important step to determine whether more patients can be cured, Bestvina says. To this end, perioperative immunotherapy has become an exciting potential treatment strategy for patients.

The results of the phase 3 CheckMate 816 trial (NCT02998528) demonstrated a significantly improved pathological complete response rate with neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus nivolumab (Opdivo) vs chemotherapy alone in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer. During the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, additional findings showed that the neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy regimen did not impede feasibility and timing of surgery, limit the extent or completeness of resection, or increase surgical complications compared with chemotherapy alone in this patient population. 

As such, neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy will likely have a role in the treatment of patients with earlier-stage, resectable lung cancer, Bestvina concludes.