🫁 Never-smoker NSCLC is not one immunotherapy story, it is a biomarker story.
In a large retrospective analysis, Gariazzo, Elkrief, Concannon et al. evaluated 741 patients with metastatic NSCLC without actionable genomic alterations who had never used tobacco and received ICI-based regimens.
Overall outcomes were modest:
📌 ORR: 23.2%
📌 Median PFS: 4.5 months
📌 Median OS: 16.8 months
But the study identified important predictors of benefit:
🧬 PD-L1 ≥90%
🧬 TMB ≥90th percentile
🧫 High TIL density
🔥 Immune-enriched transcriptomic profiles
🛡️ Increased MHC class I/II antigen presentation and T-cell activity
Another key signal: PD-(L)1 + CTLA-4 combinations outperformed chemo-immunotherapy and PD-(L)1 monotherapy in median PFS and OS.
The takeaway is clear:
Never-smoker, AGA-negative NSCLC should not be viewed as uniformly resistant to immunotherapy. A selected subgroup with very high PD-L1, high TMB, and immune-rich tumors may derive meaningful benefit.
For clinical decision-making, this study supports moving beyond smoking history alone and toward deeper immune and molecular profiling.
https://t.co/9B4e4YK30U
@alessandra_dodi@DiFedericoMD@doctordegio@pecci_federica1@mihaela_aldea@NarjustFlorezMD@JuliaRotow@XinAnnWang@ACortelliniMD@FedericoCappuz1@DrMarkAwad@stescalera@giulio_metro@NIVokes@AdamJSchoenfeld@BRicciutiMD
Dr. Natalie Vokes shared the latest insights on novel frontline combinations with checkpoint inhibitors for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer at #ASCO26.
The session explored emerging strategies aimed at improving outcomes and expanding treatment options for patients with advanced lung cancer. @NIVokes #EndCancer
🫁 What’s next for 1L #NSCLC#without actionable genomic alterations?
Excellent, well-balanced discussion by Dr. @NIVokes , highlighting key advances and putting new data into clear clinical context.
A complex and rapidly evolving treatment landscape.
#NSCLC#LungCancer #ASCO26 #ThoracicOncology @UTMDAnderson@ASCO
🌟Three of the 15 inaugural @AACR Trailblazer Award recipients are previous Mark Foundation early-career grantees. It’s a privilege to watch @efapostolou29, @TuomasTammela, and @NIVokes continue to grow their careers and tackle cancer’s most difficult questions.
🟢 𝗔𝗔𝗖𝗥 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗔𝗖𝗥 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗹𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
The latest initiative from American Association for Cancer Research highlights where the future of oncology is being built.
https://t.co/PcL3MDvjbl
@AACR@KarenODixon@JJMilnerLab@jontsai@NIVokes@YMerbl@TuomasTammela
#AACR #oncology #OncoDaily #cancer #grant
Congratulations to our Dr. Natalie Vokes on receiving an @AACR Trailblazer Cancer Research Grant, announced at this morning's #AACR26 opening ceremony.
This grant will support her research into CDKN2A/MTAP-deleted non-small cell lung cancer. #EndCancer
Biomarker complexity is rapidly increasing, yet the cost and accessibility of the technologies needed to implement them are not always keeping pace
In @JTOonline, our comprehensive study of the routinely-assessed TTF-1 expression in lung adenocarcinoma
https://t.co/xAXHcGzyej
1/7
Special mention to @LeiDeng3 and Bolun Liu for their analysis of NCDB dataset, and the teams of @BRicciutiMD, @DiFedericoMD, @alissajcooper and @AdamJSchoenfeld for their collaboration. Hope that such studies can pave the way for better treatment options in these rare tumors!
Delighted to share this multi-institutional collaboration dissecting outcomes in sarcomatoid lung cancer, a rare and hard to treat subtype. While chemotherapy may have limited efficacy, we found that many of these tumors are PDL1 high and responsive to immunotherapy.
Outcomes to ICIs and genomic features in PSC remain underexplored compared with other NSCLC subtypes. Hong et al. present the findings from their multicenter retrospective study on clinicogenomic features and #immunotherapy associations in PSC. https://t.co/sUAWExySSp @NIvokes
Outcomes to ICIs and genomic features in PSC remain underexplored compared with other NSCLC subtypes. Hong et al. present the findings from their multicenter retrospective study on clinicogenomic features and #immunotherapy associations in PSC. https://t.co/sUAWExySSp @NIvokes
NSCLC MTAP-del
BMS-986504 (MTA-coop PRMT5i) in pretreated pts:
ORR 29% · DOR 10.5m · DCR 80%
Active in EGFR/ALK/KRAS subgroups.
Well tolerated, low heme tox.
➡️ Next step: MountainTAP-9 & 29
#LungCancer#Oncology#TargetedTherapy#wclc25@IASLC@OncoAlert
Great to see so much data coming out in this space, with many clinical trials now available or coming for patients with MTAP deletions including at @MDAndersonNews and other centers
Be ready to screen MTAP loss in all pts with advanced NSCLC, regardless of driver.
@mihaela_aldea shows incidence, highest in ALK/RET/EGFR/ROS1.
AMG193 paved the way at #ESMO24.
BMS-986504 confirms druggability: 29% ORR + many durable SD (slide @CharuAggarwalMD). #WCLC25