There’s a New Immunotherapy Treatment for Lung Cancer

One-hundred-fifty-four thousand people died from lung cancer in 2018. And it's not choosy, attacking people of wealth, people who seem otherwise healthy, and even people who never smoked. It's something most have considered untreatable for a long time, but that may be changing. With the right treatment, lung cancer patients may have the opportunity for a longer, healthier life. Fortunately, a new immunotherapy treatment is showing promise. Let’s take a look at what we know.

Lung Cancer is a Relatively Common Illness

As the third most common cancer in the US, lung cancer accounts for around 25% of all deaths from cancer annually. Many people assume that only those who smoke get lung cancer, but that’s actually not the case. 

Every year, patients who never smoked or smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes throughout their life account for between 10% and 20% of all US lung cancer diagnoses. Anyone, at any age, can get lung cancer, although the disease is more common in those who are older and those who smoke.

What is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer?

Approximately 80% of lung cancer is the non-small cell type, which generally spreads slower than small cell lung cancer. Non-small cell cancer is also treated differently. There are three main types of lung cancer: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma.  

Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of non-small cell cancer and the one seen most often in smokers. It’s generally slow-growing and begins in the outside of the lungs. Squamous cell carcinoma, also linked to smoking, starts in the airways. The large cell carcinoma is fast-growing and can begin in any part of the lung.

What Is Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that’s linked to the patient’s own immune system. When a patient’s body can be taught to fight off cancer on its own, the survival rate for that patient rises against that type of cancer. Finding the proper treatment for that patient may make a significant difference in quality and length of life. 

Several types of immunotherapy options include cancer vaccines, targeted antibodies, tumor-infecting viruses, cytokines, checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell transfer, and other methods. They all might work against cancer, and one may be better than another, depending on the individual patient.  But now there's a new treatment in its category that's got people pretty excited.

Atezolizumab and PD-L1

A new immunotherapy treatment for non-small cell lung cancer targets a protein on the surface of cancer cells called PD-L1. The therapy, atezolizumab, is a checkpoint inhibitor. That means the immunotherapy blocks checkpoint proteins from binding with partner proteins. 

Because the checkpoint doesn’t transmit the proper signal, the body’s immune system responds by killing the cancer cells instead of allowing them to grow and multiply. The new treatment may potentially treat non-small cell lung cancer effectively through an IV infusion the patient receives once every three weeks.

What Is the Prognosis?

Like other types of lung cancer treatment options, there are few guarantees. However, this new immunotherapy treatment may bring promise and hope to more people living with non-small cell lung cancer. Research indicated that people given this immunotherapy had an overall survival length of 20.4 months, compared to just over 13 months with chemotherapy.

While immunotherapy isn’t really a cure for lung cancer, it’s a treatment that may prolong or even save lives. Now, people living with non-small cell lung cancer may have another opportunity for a treatment that might prolong their lives.

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