Dr. Giaccone on Treatment Options in NSCLC

Giuseppe Giaccone, MD, PhD, chief, Thoracic Oncology, associate director, Clinical Research, Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses current treatment options in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Since the introduction of immunotherapy to the treatment paradigm, the majority of patients with NSCLC will receive immunotherapy in the first-line setting as single-agent or combination treatment, says Giaccone.

However, some patients with contraindications, such as autoimmune diseases, may not be eligible for immunotherapy, explains Giaccone.

For most patients, checkpoint inhibitors such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda), nivolumab (Opdivo), ipilimumab (Yervoy), and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) are utilized, Giaccone says.

Patients who progress on checkpoint inhibitors will likely receive standard chemotherapy with docetaxel or pemetrexed in the second-line setting, concludes Giaccone.