Dr. Wozniak on Sequencing Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer

Antoinette Wozniak, MD, FACP, FASCO, associate director of clinical research, and medical oncologist, at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center, discusses sequencing with immunotherapy and chemoradiation in select patients with stage III lung cancer.

Current standard practice in this specific setting includes giving immunotherapy after chemoradiation, typically after patients recover from the chemoradiation treatment, explains Wozniak. In previous trials, patients who were able to receive immunotherapy sooner after chemoradiation often responded better, but that group of patients could have been in better shape, says Wozniak.

Ongoing studies are examining giving chemoradiation concurrently with immunotherapy to see if patients respond better, according to Wozniak. Additionally, some ongoing neoadjuvant studies are looking at potentially resectable patients who will receive either immunotherapy or immunotherapy plus chemotherapy prior to surgery, Wozniak concludes.