Dr. Joseph Treat, MD

Chemotherapy + Bevacizumab +/- Immunotherapy

for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

While cigarette smoking remains the primary cause of most lung cancer cases, lung carcinoma in never smokers account for nearly 20 percent of cases. Never smokers with lung cancer typically present with different molecular profiles from that of smokers, which results in prognostic and therapeutic implications. Molecular changes in NSCLC that have therapeutic significance include mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and rearrangements in the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. These driver mutations typically are present in lung tumors found in never or light smokers. The addition of bevacizumab to carboplatin and paclitaxel in first-line treatment of non-squamous NSCLC showed improved survival compared to carboplatin and paclitaxel alone, 12.3 vs. 10.3 months respectively. Results from the POINTBREAK trial demonstrated that carboplatin + pemetrexed + bevacizumab is an alternative option to carboplatin + paclitaxel + bevacizumab, with comparable survival but less toxicity. In recent years, immunotherapy has emerged as a form of treatment that can lead to robust responses in a subset of patients. The PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab and the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab have shown prolonged survival in comparison to docetaxel in patients who previously progressed with chemotherapy, irrespective of PD-L1 expression. Thus, this study combines immunotherapeutic agent atezolozumab with an ant-angiogenic agent, bevacizumab, and double platinum therapy (carboplatin and pemetrexed).