An Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor for Patients with Platinum-Ineligible NSCLC

Pivotal trials support the use of PD-L1 inhibitors, with or without chemotherapy, as the standard-of-care first-line treatment for patients with advanced-stage non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but these studies have excluded patients ineligible for platinum-based doublet chemotherapy. As a result, many patients ineligible for platinum-based chemotherapy continue to receive single-agent chemotherapy. To compare possible treatments in this population, researchers conducted a manufacturer-funded, phase 3, open-label international trial in 453 patients who had stage IIIB or stage IV NSCLC lacking EGFR or ALK alterations. The investigators considered the patients unsuitable for platinum-doublet chemotherapy because they had an Eastern Coopera…