Abstract
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, with high rates of local and distant recurrence limiting survival even after curative-intent surgical resection. Traditional adjuvant chemotherapy benefits only 5% of patients, and as such additional treatment modalities are urgently needed to improve NSCLC patient outcomes. Systemic therapy with PD1 and PDL1 immune check-point inhibitors (ICIs) has emerged as a promising treatment option in many types of solid malignancies, including lung cancer. Encouraging results from immunotherapy trials in metastatic lung cancer populations, and now newer results from ongoing clinical trials in early stage locally advanced lung cancers, suggested an evolving role for perioperative immune checkpoint inhibition in resectable NSCLC. In this review we examine the latest advances in the landscape of clinical trials on immunotherapy in resectable NSCLC. We discuss the key findings and specific clinical challenges related to neoadjuvant administration of these immune therapies in the CheckMate816, Impower030, AEGEAN and KEYNOTE671 phase III clinical trials. The role of adjuvant ICI is also discussed examining the ANVIL, Impower010, and PEARLS trials. By understanding the remaining unanswered questions and clinical dilemmas that exist in this rapidly evolving field for ICIs in early stage NSCLC, clinicians may provide patients options which may markedly improve survival outcomes for this life-threatening disease.