05 Jun Penn Study Addresses Duration of Immunotherapy After Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Lova Sun
Lova L. Sun, MD, MSCE
Medical Oncology
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: An common clinical question for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with long-term response to immunotherapy-based treatment is how long to continue treatment. The major clinical trials stopped immunotherapy at a maximum of 2 years, but in clinical practice many patients and clinicians continue treatment beyond this time point.
We conducted a retrospective study of lung cancer patients across the US with long-term response to immunotherapy, to compare survival between those who stopped treatment at 2 years vs those who continued beyond 2 years. We found that there was no statistically significant difference in survival between the two groups.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: These findings do not imply that everyone should stop immunotherapy at two years, but rather provide reassurance that for patients and providers who are considering stopping at 2 years, this strategy does not appear to compromise outcomes.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study?
Response: There are several proposed randomized controlled trials that will more rigorously test this question of optimal duration of immunotherapy for lung cancer. While we await this “gold standard” prospective data, this study provides evidence from a retrospective dataset to guide clinical practice in the short-term.
Citation:
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Last Updated on June 5, 2023 by Marie Benz