Lung Cancer Surgery in the Era of Immunotherapy

Filmed at the 2019 STS Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, Mara Antonoff of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA, moderates a discussion on how immunotherapy is changing the landscape of surgical lung cancer care. Dr Antonoff is joined by Boris Sepesi of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Linda Martin of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, USA, and Stephen Broderick of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. They review the indications for and efficacy of immunotherapy in lung cancer. Noting the many outstanding questions that remain, each panelist briefly highlights the research goals of trials in which they are involved, including the NEOSTAR trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03158129), a phase II trial through the Alliance Foundation, and the CheckMate 816 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02998528). The group discusses how immunotherapy might change the population of patients undergoing surgery, both in late-stage and early-stage disease. Finally, the panelists emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary care, considering all available therapeutic options to provide the best care for each patient.