Do we Need Maintenance Chemotherapy in Advanced NSCLC in the Era of Immune and Targeted Therapy?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-55
Author(s):  
Ahmed Nagy ◽  
Omar Abdel Rahman ◽  
Heba Abdullah ◽  
Ahmed Negida

Background: Although well established for the effective management of hematologic cancers, maintenance chemotherapy has only been recently incorportated as a treatment paradigm for advanced non–small-cell lung cancer. Maintenance chemotherapy aims to prolong a clinically favorable response state achieved after finishing induction therapy which is usually predefined in number before startng treatment. There are 2 modalities for maintenance therapy; continuation maintenance (involving a non-platinum component which was a part of the induction protocol or a targeted agent) and switch maintenance therapy (utilizing a new agent which was not a part of the induction regimen). Methods: The purpose of this article is to review the role of maintenance therapy in the treatment of advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and provide a brief overview about induction chemotherapy in NSCLC to address the basis of maintenance therapy as a treatment option. We will also compare the impact of maintenance chemotherapy with the now evolving role of immunotherapy in NSCLC. Results: There have been 4 maintenance studies to date showing prolonged PFS and OS with statistical significance. However, Three out of the four studies (ECOG4599, JMEN, and PARAMOUNT) did not report tumor molecular analysis. As regard Immunotherapy, current data is in favour of strongly an increasing role for immunotherapy in NSCLC. Conclusion: Maintenance therapy in NSCLC continues to be an important therapeutic line to improve outcome in patients with metastatic and recurrent disease.

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Dranitsaris ◽  
Nancy Beegle ◽  
Arliene Ravelo ◽  
Traci Kalberer ◽  
Elaine Yu ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e19086-e19086
Author(s):  
Tindara Franchina ◽  
Alessandro Russo ◽  
Claudia Proto ◽  
Giuseppe Chiofalo ◽  
Maria Picciotto ◽  
...  

e19086 Background: In the last few years, the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been dramatically changed with the introduction of EGFR TK (Epidermal Growth Factor Tyrosine Kinase) inhibitors. Given its objectivity and the benefits derived by patients, overall survival (OS) has been historically considered the most important therapeutic objective in advanced NSCLC. However, little is known about postprogression survival (PPS) in NSCLC. This study evaluates the correlation between response to erlotinib and post progression survival (i.e. the time between disease progression and death) to estimate the impact of this drug on overall survival. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 68 NSCLC unselected patients consecutively treated with second or third line erlotinib at our institution from 2007 to 2010, including in the responder group patients who progressed after stable disease on erlotinib for at least six months (n=20). The relationship between OS and PPS was evaluated by standard statistical tests. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Survival was significantly prolonged in responders patients (18.6 vs 11.3) suggesting the important role of EGFR TK inhibitors in NSCLC management. In addition a significant increase of PPS was recorded in these patients (9.1 vs 4.6 p=0.02), allowing to perform further therapy lines to better control cancer evolution. Conclusions: These data underline the key role of EGFR in NSCLC growth and progression and the impact of erlotinib in cancer control evolution. Post progression therapy influence the effect on overall survival. This analysis suggests that a treatment strategy incorporating all active agents over the course of disease optimizes OS. Further investigations will be needed in selected patients harboring EGFR-activating mutations to better define the role of PPS as new indicator of erlotinib efficacy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yixing Jiang ◽  
Taofeek K. Owonikoko ◽  
Suresh S. Ramalingam ◽  
Fadlo R. Khuri ◽  
Chandra P. Belani

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karmen Stanic ◽  
Martina Vrankar ◽  
Jasna But-Hadzic

AbstractBackgroundConsolidation radiotherapy (cRT) in extended disease small cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC) showed improved 2-year overall survival in patients who responded to chemotherapy (ChT) in CREST trial, however results of two meta - analysis were contradictive. Recently, immunotherapy was introduced to the treatment of ED-SCLC, making the role of cRT even more unclear. The aim of our study was to access if consolidation thoracic irradiation improves survival of ED-SCLC patients treated in a routine clinical practice and to study the impact of cRT dose on survival. We also discuss the future role of cRT in the era of immunotherapy.Patients and methodsWe retrospectively reviewed 704 consecutive medical records of patients with small cell lung cancer treated at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana from January 2010 to December 2014 with median follow up of 65 months. We analyzed median overall survival (mOS) of patients with ED-SCLC treated with ChT only and those treated with ChT and cRT. We also compared mOS of patients treated with different consolidation doses and performed univariate and multivariate analysis of prognostic factors.ResultsOut of 412 patients with ED-SCLC, ChT with cRT was delivered to 74 patients and ChT only to 113 patients. Patients with cRT had significantly longer mOS compared to patients with ChT only, 11.1 months (CI 10.1–12.0) vs. 7.6 months (CI 6.9–8.5, p < 0.001) and longer 1-year OS (44% vs. 23%, p = 0.0025), while the difference in 2-year OS was not significantly different (10% vs. 5%, p = 0.19). The cRT dose was not uniform. Higher dose with 45 Gy (in 18 fractions) resulted in better mOS compared to lower doses 30–36 Gy (in 10–12 fractions), 17.2 months vs. 10.3 months (p = 0.03) and statistically significant difference was also seen for 1-year OS (68% vs. 30%, p = 0.01) but non significant for 2-year OS (18% vs. 5%, p = 0.11).ConclusionsConsolidation RT improved mOS and 1-year OS in ED-SCLC as compared to ChT alone. Higher dose of cRT resulted in better mOS and 1-year OS compared to lower dose. Consolidation RT, higher number of ChT cycles and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) were independent prognostic factors for better survival in our analysis. For patients who received cRT, only higher doses and PCI had impact on survival regardless of number of ChT cycles received. Role of cRT in the era of immunotherapy is unknown and should be exploited in further trials.


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