[Nivolumab in second-line treatment of squamous non-small cell lung cancer.]

The treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is changing dramatically in the last period, considering both non-squamous and squamous disease. In the last five years, the identification of different molecular predictive biomarker (e.g., EGFR, ALK e ROS1) and the utilize of new chemotherapy agents associated or not with antiangiogenics agents (e.g., bevacizumab and nintedanib), allowed the improvement of survival and related responses to these treatments. However, these advances, did not allow an improvement of the same endpoints in the management of NSCLC with squamous cell histology (SCC), where until very recently, docetaxel in monotherapy remained as a corner stone treatment for the second line, although associated with an unfavorable toxicity profile. In recent years, the improvement knowledge of mechanisms of immune response in patients suffering from solid tumors, and especially lung cancer, allowed the identification of different anti-PD1 and anti-PDL1 monoclonal antibodies (e.g., atezolizumab, avelumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab) able to improved survival and response when used in second-line setting. In this review, we report the evidences of nivolumab in NSCLC with squamous histology, through the discussion of data related to phase I, II and III published and searchable via Medline/PubMed.