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Pembrolizumab for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer

Sung Hee Lim1, Jong-Mu Sun1, Se-Hoon Lee1

  • 1a Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center , Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine , Seoul , South Korea.

Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy
|January 23, 2016
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Pembrolizumab offers durable responses and prolonged survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, particularly those with high programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) expression. Further research into predictive biomarkers and tumor microenvironments is crucial for optimizing immunotherapy.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunotherapy
  • Biomarkers

Background:

  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) have improved outcomes in various cancers.
  • Lung cancer treatment has seen advancements with these immunotherapies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of pembrolizumab in advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  • To assess the impact of PD-L1 expression on treatment response and survival outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of data from KEYNOTE-001 (Phase I) and KEYNOTE-010 (Phase II/III) trials.
  • Pembrolizumab treatment for advanced/metastatic NSCLC patients with progressed disease and PD-L1 expression.
  • Comparison of pembrolizumab with docetaxel in previously treated NSCLC patients.

Main Results:

  • KEYNOTE-001: 19.4% overall response rate (ORR), 3.7 months median progression-free survival (PFS), 12.0 months median overall survival (OS) in 495 NSCLC patients.
  • Strong PD-L1 expression (≥50%) correlated with higher ORR, longer PFS, and longer OS.
  • KEYNOTE-010: Pembrolizumab improved OS compared to docetaxel in previously treated NSCLC.

Conclusions:

  • Pembrolizumab demonstrates durable responses and prolonged OS, especially in NSCLC patients with high PD-1 expression, indicating a new treatment paradigm.
  • Further research is needed to identify robust biomarkers for predicting tumor immune-responsiveness.
  • Understanding the tumor microenvironment is essential for improving treatment outcomes through combination therapies.
Keywords:
non-small cell lung cancerpembrolizumab

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