Lung Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is an exciting breakthrough in lung cancer treatment, offering new options and hope for patients who did not adequately respond to chemotherapy.

Immunotherapy taps into the unique powers of the immune system to fight cancer. In 2015 the FDA approved two immunotherapy drugs—nivolumab (Opdivo®) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda®)—for the treatment of lung cancer. Nivolumab was approved for the treatment of squamous and non-squamous NSCLC. Pembrolizumab was approved for the treatment of PD-L1-positive NSCLC.

Immunotherapy has been shown to improve survival in patients with lung cancer compared to second line chemotherapy. These advancements would not have been possible without clinical trials.

The Promise of Immunotherapy

Penn Medicine is leading the world in immunotherapy research. CAR-T therapy, developed by Penn Medicine, offers the world’s first gene-based cancer therapy to be approved by the FDA. It is a treatment that trains healthy cells to hunt down and eliminate cancer cells in patients with certain types of blood cancer. As part of Penn Medicine, Lancaster General Health provides patients with access to the most advanced treatment options and clinical trials. Learn more about immunotherapy at Penn Medicine.