Blood & Cancer

In this episode, we review how PD-L1 inhibitors and COVID-19 have changed the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Jeffrey Crawford, MD, and Susan Blackwell, PA, both of Duke Cancer Institute, join host David H. Henry, MD, to discuss the use of pembrolizumab in NSCLC, two studies of PD-L1 inhibitors presented at ESMO 2020, and how COVID-19 has affected NSCLC care, particularly the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Diagnosis and treatment of NSCLC What information should be obtained from a biopsy? Is this lung cancer? If so, what kind of lung cancer is it: Small-cell lung cancer or NSCLC? Which subtype? Molecular studies for targets, including ALK, KRAS, EGFR, PD-L1. Treatment with pembrolizumab: If, for example, a patient has NSCLC and is positive for PD-L1, the treatment of choice is pembrolizumab. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to provide comprehensive education and care to patients taking pembrolizumab (and other immunotherapies). Pembrolizumab can have man