Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade in lung cancer: we’re not in Kansas anymore

In the May 24^th, 2018 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Patrick Forde and colleagues published a pilot study which examined the safety and feasibility of immune therapy to block programmed death 1 (PD-1) proteins by administering neo-adjuvant PD-1 Inhibitor in the setting of resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (1). In addition to demonstrating a lack of serious adverse events or surgical delay, they were also able to reveal a major pathologic response in tumor burden and provide greater insight into the dynamics of any anti-tumor immune response.