Efficacy and Safety Evaluation of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Combination With Chemotherapy for Extensive Small Cell Lung Cancer: Real-World Evidence.

Introduction: Extensive small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) are currently managed using first-line chemotherapy options, including atezolizumab (Atezo) plus etoposide and carboplatin (CE) or durvalumab (Durva) plus etoposide with either cisplatin (PE) or carboplatin (CE). However, a definitive distinction in therapeutic effects between Atezo and Durva in these regimens remains unestablished.

Methods: We analyzed data from 100 patients diagnosed with ES-SCLC who received immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) as first-line chemotherapy.

Comparative Study on Associations Between Lung Cancer Prognosis and Diagnostic Criteria Set by the European Palliative Care Research Collaboration and the Asian Working Group for Cachexia.

Background: Cachexia is a poor prognostic factor in many advanced cancers. Cachexia diagnostic criteria of the European Palliative Care Research Collaboration (EPCRC) may underestimate cachexia in Asians; therefore, new criteria have been proposed by the Asian Working Group for Cachexia (AWGC). We compared both criteria to determine differences in diagnostic rates and their association with lung cancer prognosis.

Randomized Phase II Trial of Amrubicin Plus Irinotecan Versus Cisplatin Plus Irinotecan in Chemo-naïve Patients With Extensive-Disease Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Results of the Japan Multinational Trial Organization (JMTO) LC 08-01.

Background: We conducted a randomize phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topoisomerase II inhibitor amrubicin plus topoisomerase I inhibitor irinotecan (AI) compared with cisplatin plus irinotecan (PI) as first-line therapy in patients with extensive-disease (ED) small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Patients And Methods: Chemo-naïve patients with pathologically proven ED-SCLC (including limited disease (LD) SCLC with malignant effusion) were enrolled. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive either AI (amrubicin 90mg/m on day 1 and irinotecan 50mg/m on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle) or PI (cisplatin 60mg/m on day 1 and irinotecan 60mg/m on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28-day cycle).

Protocol summary of a randomized phase III study: comparing systemic therapy with and without debulking surgery (primary tumour resection) for clinical stage IVA (cT1-2bN0-1M1a) non-small cell lung cancer with radiologically undetermined pleural dissemination JCOG2103 (DEBULK-LUNG).

In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who present with radiologically undetermined malignant pleural dissemination or incidental surgical diagnosis of the same, surgery is generally not the preferred option; systemic therapy is favoured. However, there is no consensus on incorporating primary site resection into the treatment plan. Retrospective analyses hint at potential benefits of combining systemic therapy with primary site resection, but prospective studies have yet to confirm these findings.

Feasibility Study of Nivolumab in Combination with Carboplatin Plus Paclitaxel and Concurrent Thoracic Radiation in Patients with Untreated Unresectable Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Despite advancements in diagnosing and treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the prognosis remains poor. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown promise in enhancing survival rates. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the safety of nivolumab administration with concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) in patients with unresectable locally advanced NSCLC.

Updated review of perioperative treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer in the new era of immune checkpoint inhibitors: past, present, and future.

The perioperative treatments for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) should control both local and microscopic systemic disease, because the survival of patients with NSCLC who underwent surgical resection alone has been dismal except in stage IA patients. One way to improve surgical outcome is the administration of chemotherapy before or after the surgical procedure. During the last two decades, many clinical studies have focused on developing optimal adjuvant or neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimens that can be combined with surgical treatment and/or radiotherapy.

Effectiveness and Safety of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Alone or in Combination With Chemotherapy in Pulmonary Sarcomatoid Carcinoma.

Introduction: Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is a rare subtype of lung cancer associated with poor prognosis and resistance to conventional chemotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), alone or in combination with chemotherapy, were found to have clinical benefits in PSC in recent studies. Nevertheless, because these studies included a small number of patients owing to disease rarity, larger studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ICI-based therapy for PSC.

Multicenter, Retrospective Study to Evaluate Necitumumab Plus Cisplatin and Gemcitabine After Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Advanced Squamous Cell Lung Cancer in Japan: The NINJA Study.

Introduction: Necitumumab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin (GCN) is a standard therapy for patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSqCC). However, the efficacy and tolerability of GCN in second-line or later treatment for patients previously treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) remain unknown.

Methods: This multicenter, retrospective, cohort study assessed the efficacy and tolerability of GCN initiated between November 1, 2019 and March 31, 2022 as second-line to fourth-line treatment in patients with advanced LSqCC who had been pretreated with ICIs.

Extended ICI treatment after first-line chemoimmunotherapy could predict the clinical benefit of ramucirumab plus docetaxel in advanced non-small lung cancer: Post hoc analysis from NEJ051 (REACTIVE study).

Background: The factors that predict the clinical response to ramucirumab plus docetaxel (RD) after first-line chemoimmunotherapy are unresolved. We explored whether the therapeutic efficacy of prior chemoimmunotherapy could predict the outcome of RD as sequential therapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Our study comprised 288 patients with advanced NSCLC who received RD as the second-line treatment after first-line chemoimmunotherapy at 62 Japanese institutions.

Risk factors for loss of pulmonary function after wedge resection for peripheral ground-glass opacity dominant lung cancer.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the risk factors for pulmonary functional deterioration after wedge resection for early-stage lung cancer with ground-glass opacity, which remain unclear, particularly in low-risk patients.

Methods: We analysed 237 patients who underwent wedge resection for peripheral early-stage lung cancer in JCOG0804/WJOG4507L, a phase III, single-arm confirmatory trial. The changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 s were calculated pre- and postoperatively, and a cutoff value of -10%, the previously reported reduction rate after lobectomy, was used to divide the patients into 2 groups: the severely reduced group (≤-10%) and normal group (>-10%).

First-Line Chemoimmunotherapy versus Sequential Platinum-Based Chemotherapy Followed by Immunotherapy in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with ≤49% Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Expression: A Real-World Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Background: The long overall survival (OS) observed among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) groups in previous phase III trials suggests the limited efficacy of CIT among the subgroup with ≤49% PD-L1 expression on tumor cells. Hence, sequential treatment with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy followed by second-line immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment (SEQ) is an option. This study examined whether first-line CIT would provide better outcomes than SEQ in patients with advanced NSCLC with ≤49% PD-L1 expression.

Canakinumab as Adjuvant Therapy in Patients With Completely Resected Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Results From the CANOPY-A Double-Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Effective treatments for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are limited and relapse rates are high. The interleukin (IL)-1β pathway has been linked with tumor development and progression, including in the Canakinumab Anti-Inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes cardiovascular study in which IL-1β pathway inhibition with canakinumab reduced lung cancer incidence and mortality in an exploratory analysis.

Methods: CANOPY-A (ClinicalTrials.

Biomarker analysis of the phase II JO25567 study comparing erlotinib with or without bevacizumab in first-line advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as erlotinib, are standard-of-care for patients with mutation-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but most patients progress within 1 year. Previously, we demonstrated that erlotinib plus bevacizumab (EB) improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with -positive non-squamous NSCLC in the randomized JO25567 study. To understand this effect, we conducted comprehensive exploratory biomarker analyses.

Randomized phase II study of daily versus alternate-day administrations of S-1 for the elderly patients with completely resected pathological stage IA (tumor diameter > 2 cm)-IIIA of non-small cell lung cancer: Setouchi Lung Cancer Group Study 1201.

Background: It is shown that the postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was associated with survival benefit in an elderly population. We aimed to analyze the feasibility and efficacy of alternate-day S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine, for adjuvant chemotherapy in elderly patients with completely resected pathological stage IA (tumor diameter > 2 cm) to IIIA (UICC TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours, 7th edition) NSCLC.

Methods: Elderly patients were randomly assigned to receive adjuvant chemotherapy for one year consisting of either alternate-day oral administration of S-1 (80 mg/m2/day) for 4 days a week (Arm A) or a daily oral administration of S-1 (80 mg/m2/day) for 14 consecutive days followed by 7-day rest (Arm B).