Cutting-Edge and Basic Treatments Can Work in Tandem to Address NSCLC: Frank Weinberg, MD, PhD

Frank Weinberg, MD, PhD, assistant professor and head of the thoracic oncology program at the University of Illinois Cancer Center, spoke about the innovations in the treatment of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) while still encouraging the use of available treatments and means of prevention to alleviate the burden of NSCLC.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity; captions are auto-generated.

Transcript

What are some promising targeted and immuno-oncology treatments for NSCLC that should be on the radar?

I think in the [NSCLC] field, we're seeing exciting progress being made with drugs that are targeting EGFR exon 20 mutations, KRAS G12C, and also HER2 mutations, and these were traditionally mutations that had limited options in the clinical setting, so that's always exciting. Then on the immunotherapy side, I think, again, the move to incorporate immunotherapy into the earlier-stage setting, particularly perioperative treatment, that's very promising. We're also watching a lot of new combinations of immunotherapy coming out, whether it be immunotherapy combined with anti[body]-drug conjugates or by specific antibodies, as well as antiangiogenic agents. I think all of those could really expand benefits to more patients.

Are there other means of treating NSCLC that may be more accessible for patients with the condition?

Absolutely. Advanced therapies obviously are critical and certainly cutting-edge treatments are going to advance the field, but we can't overlook the basics. At the cancer center where I work, we do a lot in lung cancer screening and smoking cessation. We know both of these things can save lives by preventing and catching disease earlier. Smoking cessation can even allow patients to respond better to therapies that they're on. And supportive and palliative care, once started early, also are known to not only improve quality of life, but now there's extended survival benefit with those approaches. We can make those sorts of programs more accessible for patients everywhere. I think that's one way where we can forward outcomes as well.