Anita T. Shaffer

In light of recent advancements, the current paradigm for choosing first-line therapy for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who do not harbor an actionable driver oncogene depends upon PD-L1 expression level and histology.

Tepotinib, an investigational small molecule that targets a recently identified aberration in the MET gene, is moving forward rapidly in clinical development for patients with non–small cell lung cancer who harbor the mutation, raising hopes that a more specific attack on the signaling pathway will lead to a new therapy for a significant subgroup of individuals with the disease.

Although there are no drugs that target TP53 mutations in any tumor type, a recent analysis of a non–small cell lung cancer sample set raises the prospect that a more detailed understanding of this aberration eventually could help direct therapy.

Gene therapy has the potential to deliver long-lasting remissions for patients with advanced B-cell malignancies who already have undergone an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, discusses the implications of responses to the CAR T-cell therapy KTE-C19, particularly among patients with chemotherapy-refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

Two patients with metastatic cervical cancer achieved durable complete responses that have so far lasted from 15 to 22 months through an adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT) targeting the human papillomavirus (HPV) in a study that researchers say supports the concept that the experimental immunotherapy approach may be beneficial in a variety of tumor types.

As therapy based on cell-signaling pathways has become a priority in cancer research, so has the concept of designing clinical trials that can better target patient populations more likely to benefit from a particular regimen.