Use of Immunotherapy in Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

Oncology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
pp. 749-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venu Madhav Konala ◽  
Bhaskar Reddy Madhira ◽  
Sara Ashraf ◽  
Stephen Graziano

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in the United States and around the world. Approximately 13% of lung cancers are small cell lung cancer (SCLC). SCLC is generally classified as a limited-stage and extensive-stage disease depending on the extent of involvement. For patients with the extensive-stage disease, until recently, chemotherapy alone has been the recommended treatment, although radiotherapy could be used in select patients for palliation of symptoms. The standard of care for extensive-stage SCLC is platinum doublet chemotherapy with either cisplatin or carboplatin in combination with etoposide. Even though first-line therapy has an initial response rate of 60–80%, the prognosis is poor, with overall survival of 10–12 months. The only FDA-approved second line of therapy is topotecan, approved both as an intravenous formulation as well as an oral formulation, with response rates of 6–12% in chemorefractory disease and 15–37% in chemosensitive disease. Immunotherapy has recently been approved as a first-line agent in metastatic SCLC in combination with chemotherapy. It is also approved as a third-line agent in metastatic SCLC after the failure of two chemotherapy regimens. The FDA approved four drugs, two of them being PD-1 inhibitors (pembrolizumab, nivolumab), and two of them being PD-L1 inhibitors (atezolizumab and durvalumab) in SCLC. This review article summarizes the significance of immunotherapy in the treatment of extensive-stage SCLC, its side effects, and limitations.

Author(s):  
Marie Catherine Pietanza ◽  
Stefan Zimmerman ◽  
Solange Peters ◽  
Walter J. Curran

The fundamental approach to the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has not changed in the last several decades, with most advances being restricted to improved radiation approaches. The standard first-line chemotherapy regimen in the United States and Europe remains cisplatin or carboplatin plus etoposide in the treatment of limited stage (LS-SCLC) and extensive stage (ES-SCLC) disease. Radiation therapy is administered to those patients with LS-SCLC, whose cancer is confined to the chest in a single tolerable radiation field. This article will summarize a number of exciting observations regarding the biology of SCLC and how a deeper understanding of newly integrated targets and target pathways may lead to new and better therapeutic approaches in the near future.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 506
Author(s):  
Selina K. Wong ◽  
Wade T. Iams

After being stagnant for decades, there has finally been a paradigm shift in the treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) with the emergence and application of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Multiple trials of first-line ICI-chemotherapy combinations have demonstrated survival benefit compared to chemotherapy alone in patients with extensive-stage SCLC, establishing this as the new standard of care. ICIs are now being applied in the potentially curative limited-stage setting, actively being investigated as concurrent treatment with chemoradiation and as adjuvant treatment following completion of chemoradiation. This review highlights the evidence behind the practice-changing addition of ICIs in the first-line setting of extensive-stage SCLC, the potentially practice-changing immunotherapy trials that are currently underway in the limited-stage setting, and alternate immunotherapeutic strategies being studied in the treatment of SCLC.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey A. Carter ◽  
Bryan Oronsky ◽  
Scott Caroen ◽  
Jan Scicinski ◽  
Aiste Degesys ◽  
...  

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), initially exquisitely sensitive to first-line cisplatin/etoposide, invariably relapses and acquires a multidrug chemoresistant phenotype that generally renders retreatment with first-line therapy both futile and counterproductive. This report presents the case of a 77-year-old Caucasian male with extensive-stage refractory SCLC who was restarted on platinum doublets as part of a clinical trial called TRIPLE THREAT (NCT02489903) involving pretreatment with the epi-immunotherapeutic agent RRx-001, and who achieved a partial response after only 4 cycles. The patient had received a platinum drug twice before, in 2009 for a diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) and in 2015 for SCLC, suggesting that RRx-001 pretreatment may sensitize or resensitize refractory SCLC patients to first-line chemotherapy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sun ◽  
L. D. Durocher-Allen ◽  
P. M. Ellis ◽  
Y. C. Ung ◽  
J. R. Goffin ◽  
...  

Background Patients with limited-stage (ls) or extensive-stage (es) small-cell lung cancer (sclc) are commonly given platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment. Standard chemotherapy for patients with ls sclc includes a platinum agent such as cisplatin combined with the non-platinum agent etoposide. The objective of the present systematic review was to investigate the efficacy of adding radiotherapy to chemotherapy in patients with es sclc and to determine the appropriate timing, dose, and schedule of chemotherapy or radiation for patients with sclc.Methods The medline and embase databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (rcts) comparing treatment with radiotherapy plus chemotherapy against treatment with chemotherapy alone in patients with es sclc. Identified rcts were also included if they compared various timings, doses, and schedules of treatment for patients with es sclc or ls sclc.Results Sixty-four rcts were included. In patients with ls sclc, overall survival was greatest with platinum– etoposide compared with other chemotherapy regimens. In patients with es sclc, overall survival was greatest with chemotherapy containing platinum–irinotecan than with chemotherapy containing platinum–etoposide (hazard ratio: 0.84; 95% confidence interval: 0.74 to 0.95; p = 0.006). The addition of radiation to chemotherapy for patients with es sclc showed mixed results. There was no conclusive evidence that the timing, dose, or schedule of thoracic radiation affected treatment outcomes in sclc.Conclusions In patients with ls sclc, cisplatin–etoposide plus radiotherapy should remain the standard therapy. In patients with es sclc, the evidence is insufficient to recommend the addition of radiotherapy to chemotherapy as standard practice to improve overall survival. However, on a case-by-case basis, radiotherapy might be added to reduce local recurrence. The most commonly used chemotherapy is platinum–etoposide; however, platinum– irinotecan can be considered.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 666-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Hatfield ◽  
Haiden A. Huskamp ◽  
Elizabeth B. Lamont

Purpose: Elderly patients with cancer are under-represented in clinical trials and risk greater toxicity from chemotherapy. These patients and their physicians need better evidence to decide among guideline-recommended regimens. We test whether patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES SCLC) have noninferior survival and less hospital-based health care after carboplatin/etoposide compared with cisplatin/etoposide. Methods: We analyzed SEER-Medicare data for beneficiaries with ES SCLC diagnosed at age 67 years and older between 1995 and 2009. Among patients treated with first-line chemotherapy in the ambulatory setting, 831 received cisplatin/etoposide and 2,846 received carboplatin/etoposide. Propensity score matching (2:1 ratio) yielded 778 cisplatin/etoposide and 1,502 carboplatin/etoposide patients. Results: Survival was nearly identical in the two groups: 35.7 weeks for cisplatin/etoposide and 35.9 weeks for carboplatin/etoposide. The hazard ratio of 1 (95% CI, 0.91 to 1.09) excluded our prespecified threshold, indicating noninferiority. Mortality at 6 months was indistinguishable: 35% for cisplatin/etoposide and 34% for carboplatin/etoposide. After carboplatin/etoposide, patients were less likely to be admitted to a hospital (80% v 86%, P < .001) and had fewer hospitalizations (median 1 v 2, odds ratio 0.76, 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.9), ED visits (median 1 v 2, odds ratio 0.82, 95% CI, 0.7 to 0.96), and ICU stays (median 0 v 0, odds ratio 0.82, 95% CI, 0.69 to 0.99). Conclusion: First-line carboplatin/etoposide is associated with similar survival and less subsequent hospital-based health care use than cisplatin/etoposide among elderly patients with ES SCLC treated in ambulatory settings.


Lung Cancer ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Hwa Bae ◽  
Hun Mo Ryoo ◽  
Young Rok Do ◽  
Hong Suk Song ◽  
Ki Young Kwon ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 379 (23) ◽  
pp. 2220-2229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leora Horn ◽  
Aaron S. Mansfield ◽  
Aleksandra Szczęsna ◽  
Libor Havel ◽  
Maciej Krzakowski ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 18053-18053
Author(s):  
J. Lee ◽  
D. Lee ◽  
K. Bae ◽  
S. Kim ◽  
C. Suh ◽  
...  

18053 Background: Belotecan (CKD602) is a novel camptothecin derivative antitumor agent. This phase I study was designed to determine the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD), toxicity profile, and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) of belotecan in combination with cisplatin in patients with previously untreated extensive-stage disease small-cell lung cancer (ED SCLC). Furthermore, pharmacokinetics (PK) and preliminary antitumor activity of belotecan against SCLC were evaluated. Methods: Patients with ED SCLC, age 18–70, ECOG PS 0–2, no prior chemotherapy and adequate organ function were eligible. Cisplatin with fixed dose of 60 mg/m2 was administered intravenously (i.v.) over 2 hours on day 1. Belotecan was administered iv as intermittent 30-minute infusions on days 1 to 4, starting dose of 0.40 mg/m2/day with increment of 0.05 mg/m2/day. Modified Fibonacci escalation was used (3 to 6 patients per cohort) and intra-patient dose escalation was not allowed. PK of belotecan was determined during the first treatment using non-compartmental pharmacokinetic analysis. Results: Seventeen patients were treated at 4 dose levels (0.40 to 0.55 mg/m2/day). At 0.55 mg/m2/day of belotecan, the DLT of grade 4 neutropenia with fever occurred in 2 of 5 patients, and therefore the MTD was 0.50 mg/m2/day. Interestingly, out of 17 patients, there were 14 partial responses (82.4%; 95% CI, 63.4% to 100.0%). PK analysis revealed that at 0.50 mg/m2/day, plasma clearance of belotecan was 5.78 ± 1.32 L/hr and terminal half-life was 8.55 ± 2.12 hr. Fraction of excreted amount in urine was 37.36 ± 5.55 %. PK of belotecan were not altered by administration of cisplatin, as compared with historical control. Conclusions: The MTD of belotecan was 0.50 mg/m2/day for intermittent 30-min i.v. infusion for 4 days in combination with cisplatin 60 mg/m2 on day 1 every 3 weeks. Furthermore, very promising antitumor activity against SCLC was observed. The phase II study is being conducted now. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


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