From a surgical standpoint, the transition to neoadjuvant therapy among patients with resectable NSCLC is feasible and safe, according to a study published in Clinical Lung Cancer. Jonathan D. Spicer, MD, PhD, and colleagues assessed 428 patients with NSCLC and examined the effect of a transition toward a large-scale neoadjuvant therapy program. They analyzed medical charts of patients with clinical stage 2/3 NSCLC who underwent resection. The study team set the perioperative complication rate between neoadjuvant-treated patients versus those who underwent upfront surgery as the primary outcome. Of the total cohort, 75.2% received upfront surgery, while 24.8% underwent neoadjuvant therapy. The occurrence rate of minor and major postoperative complications was comparable between groups (P=0.22). Additionally, the frequency of postoperative complications was similar in both cohorts (adjusted OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.73-2.50). Accompanied by a reduced rate of preoperative radiation therapy, the use of neoadjuvant therapy rose from 10% to 45% with an increase in targeted and immunotherapies over time.
