Dr. Herbst on Advances of Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), professor of Pharmacology, chief of Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, associate director for Translational Research, Disease Alligned Research Team Leader, Thoracic Oncology Program, Yale Cancer Center, discusses the current and future impact of immunotherapy in lung cancer.

Immunotherapy agents are currently active in the frontline setting, and they have certainly become the standard in the second-line setting. Oncologists are now looking at maintenance therapies, as well as neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies, thus bringing immunotherapy into all aspects of treatment, explains Herbst.

The future of immunotherapy, says Herbst, will focus on which patients will benefit from which drugs, either as single agents or as combination therapies. Moreover, Herbst says future research should closely examine both the immune microenvironment and mutational status, among several other factors.