Personnalized Immunotherapy in Patients With Stage III Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

The reference treatment for locally advanced (stage III) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is concomitant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by durvalumab consolidation for 1 year. This strategy is based on the results of the PACIFIC trial, which compared, in a randomized fashion after CRT, the superiority of treatment with durvalumab at a dose of 1500 mg every 4 weeks for 12 months to placebo in patients with non-progressive disease. The coprimary endpoints of this trial were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). This study was positive and showed a benefit in PFS and OS. However, less than half of patients (49%) received the full 12 months of durvalumab in this study, one-third of these discontinuations being related to toxicity. Furthermore, the prescription of durvalumab in this setting is not currently guided by any companion biomarker. As a result, the systematic prescription of a 12-month consolidation immunotherapy after CRT, without any selection criteria, leads to a possible overtreatment of patients whose survival would have been prolonged without additional treatment. These patients are systematically exposed to a potentially high and serious risk of toxicity in the course of immunotherapy. It is therefore crucial to move towards a more individualized approach in the prescription of consolidation immunotherapy after CRT in stage III NSCLC. This would ensure that the most appropriate treatment is delivered to patients who are likely to derive significant clinical benefit, while concurrently minimizing the exposure of other patients to potentially severe clinical toxicities. Additionally, such an approach would help protect healthcare systems from unnecessary economic burden, preventing the allocation of resources to treatments that offer limited therapeutic value.