ESMO Patients Guide
Treatment options for metastatic (Stage IV) NSCLC Chemotherapy is the main treatment for metastatic NSCLC
Metastatic NSCLC is usually considered inoperable. Complete removal of the tumour(s) is very unlikely and therefore a chance of cure cannot be offered. However, surgical interventions can relieve symptoms caused by the disease spreading to other parts of the body. Similarly, radiotherapy may help control symptoms that arise due to the disease spreading to certain organs, including the brain and bones (Planchard et al., 2018). Systemic anticancer treatment is the main treatment for Stage IV NSCLC, the aims of which are to improve quality of life and to prolong survival. There are many different types of drugs available and the choice of which drugs are offered will largely depend on your general health and the type of tumour that you have (Planchard et al., 2018). Intravenous chemotherapy with a two-drug combination (doublet chemotherapy) is the main treatment for patients with metastatic NSCLC whose cancer does not contain specific modifications to the EGFR or ALK genes or high levels of the PD-L1 protein (determined by molecular testing using a tumour biopsy). Doublet chemotherapy is likely to include a platinum-based compound plus either gemcitabine, vinorelbine or a taxane. Addition of pemetrexed, the targeted therapy bevacizumab or the immunotherapy agent pembrolizumab may also be considered for non-squamous NSCLC. In patients whose general health is poor, single-agent chemotherapy with gemcitabine, vinorelbine or docetaxel is another treatment option (Planchard et al., 2018). Patients whose tumours have EGFR or BRAF mutations, or ALK or ROS1 rearrangements, are best treated with oral targeted therapies. Gefitinib, erlotinib, afatinib, osimertinib or erlotinib in combination with bevacizumab are options for EGFR-mutated tumours. Dabrafenib in combination with trametinib is recommended for patients with tumours that have a BRAF V600E mutation. Crizotinib, ceritinib or alectinib are offered to patients who have an ALK rearrangement, and crizotinib is recommended for patients with a ROS1 rearrangement (Planchard et al., 2018). Patients whose tumours express relatively high levels of PD-L1 protein (determined by molecular testing using a tumour biopsy) may receive first-line immunotherapy with pembrolizumab (Planchard et al., 2018). After 4–6 cycles of doublet chemotherapy, maintenance treatment with pemetrexed may be given to patients in good general health with non-squamous tumours to prolong the effect of first-line chemotherapy on tumour control. Erlotinib may be offered as maintenance treatment in patients whose tumours have EGFR mutations (Planchard et al., 2018).
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