FIRST LINE TREATMENT OF METASTATIC SQUAMOUS NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER WITH PEMBROLIZUMAB PLUS CARBOPLATIN AND PACLITAXEL / NAB-PACLITAXEL

Abstract

Pembrolizumab is the first programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, approved for the first line locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer monotherapy, when tumors express high programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) level (≥ 50 %), with no epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) genomic tumor aberrations. It is currently known that pembrolizumab together with pemetrexed and platinum significantly prolongs overall survival and progression–free survival rates compared with chemotherapy only regardless of PD-L1 expression for the metastatic non-small non-squamous cell lung cancer. It is also known that pembrolizumab together with carboplatin and paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel significantly prolongs overall survival and progression–free survival rates compared with chemotherapy only regardless of PDL1 expression for the metastatic non-small squamous cell lung cancer. Both treatment regimens are safe and tolerable. Both regimens are the standards of modern treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.