In a recent trial, the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab failed to outperform chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, even though another PD-1 inhibitor, pembrolizumab, was shown to be an effective treatment just months earlier. Researchers attribute these surprising results to differences in patient selection in the two trials, and suggest that the discovery of better biomarkers, among other strategies, might allow more patients to benefit from immunotherapies.
©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.