Immunotherapy in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Overview

Journal Cancers (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Oncology

Date 2020 Sep 9

PMID 32899891

Citations 44

Authors

Giovanna Esposito

Giuliano Palumbo

Guido Carillio

Anna Manzo

Agnese Montanino

Vincenzo Sforza

Raffaele Costanzo

Claudia Sandomenico

Carmine La Manna

Nicola Martucci

Antonello La Rocca

Giuseppe De Luca

Maria Carmela Piccirillo

Rossella De Cecio

Gerardo Botti

Giuseppe Totaro

Paolo Muto

Carmine Picone

Nicola Normanno

Alessandro Morabito

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive tumor type with limited therapeutic options and poor prognosis. Chemotherapy regimens containing platinum represent the cornerstone of treatment for patients with extensive disease, but there has been no real progress for 30 years. The evidence that SCLC is characterized by a high mutational burden led to the development of immune-checkpoint inhibitors as single agents or in combination with chemotherapy. Randomized phase III trials demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab (IMpower-133) or durvalumab (CASPIAN) with platinum-etoposide chemotherapy improved overall survival of patients with extensive disease. Instead, the KEYNOTE-604 study demonstrated that the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy failed to significantly improve overall survival, but it prolonged progression-free survival. The safety profile of these combinations was similar with the known safety profiles of all single agents and no new adverse events were observed. Nivolumab and pembrolizumab single agents showed anti-tumor activity and acceptable safety profile in Checkmate 032 and KEYNOTE 028/158 trials, respectively, in patients with SCLC after platinum-based therapy and at least one prior line of therapy. Future challenges are the identification predictive biomarkers of response to immunotherapy in SCLC and the definition of the role of immunotherapy in patients with limited stage SCLC, in combination with radiotherapy or with other biological agents.

Citing Articles

Advances in DLL3-targeted therapies for small cell lung cancer: challenges, opportunities, and future directions.

Ding J, Yeong C Front Oncol. 2024; 14:1504139.

PMID: 39703856 PMC: 11655346. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1504139.

Immune-Cell-Derived Exosomes as a Potential Novel Tool to Investigate Immune Responsiveness in SCLC Patients: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

Amato L, De Rosa C, De Rosa V, Heydari Sheikhhossein H, Ariano A, Franco P Cancers (Basel). 2024; 16(18).

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Tumor mutational burden adjusted by neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio serves as a potential biomarker for atezolizumab-treated patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer.

Zhang C, Huo Y, Shang X, Zhang T, Tang N, Wang H Respir Res. 2024; 25(1):253.

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The multifaceted functions of DNA-PKcs: implications for the therapy of human diseases.

Wu J, Song L, Lu M, Gao Q, Xu S, Zhou P MedComm (2020). 2024; 5(7):e613.

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Challenges and opportunities in the immunotherapy era: balancing expectations with hope in small-cell lung cancer.

Khan R, Coleman N Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2024; 16:17588359241249627.

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