Top Line: Can induction chemoimmunotherapy help tailor definitive local therapy for patients with nonmetastatic non-small cell lung cancer?
The Study: MD Anderson has described its outcomes with this approach. Induction chemoimmunotherapy was used to facilitate multidisciplinary reassessment of 168 patients with stage I–III NSCLC, 144 (86%) of whom were deemed resectable upfront, with final selection between surgery and definitive radiotherapy based on response and patient preference. Of the 144 initial surgical candidates, 115 (80%) went on to surgery. Importantly, none of the 24 patients with initial unresectable disease converted to resectable. Specifically, none of the patients with cT4 tumors based on local invasion or satellite nodules, bulky cN2a, or cN3 disease underwent surgery after induction. In contrast, 70% of cT4 tumors by size alone patients proceeded to surgery. The authors note outcomes with follow-on definitive radiation were in-line with historical upfront chemoradiation outcomes, which isn’t bad but isn’t good either considering definitive therapy was delayed with no benefit in one-third of the patients described.
TBL: This provides a look at real-world adoption of induction chemoimmunotherapy for locally-advanced NSCLC. | Kleber, Clin Lung Cancer 2026
The Study: MD Anderson has described its outcomes with this approach. Induction chemoimmunotherapy was used to facilitate multidisciplinary reassessment of 168 patients with stage I–III NSCLC, 144 (86%) of whom were deemed resectable upfront, with final selection between surgery and definitive radiotherapy based on response and patient preference. Of the 144 initial surgical candidates, 115 (80%) went on to surgery. Importantly, none of the 24 patients with initial unresectable disease converted to resectable. Specifically, none of the patients with cT4 tumors based on local invasion or satellite nodules, bulky cN2a, or cN3 disease underwent surgery after induction. In contrast, 70% of cT4 tumors by size alone patients proceeded to surgery. The authors note outcomes with follow-on definitive radiation were in-line with historical upfront chemoradiation outcomes, which isn’t bad but isn’t good either considering definitive therapy was delayed with no benefit in one-third of the patients described.
TBL: This provides a look at real-world adoption of induction chemoimmunotherapy for locally-advanced NSCLC. | Kleber, Clin Lung Cancer 2026