Atezolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer: the era of precision immuno-oncology

For patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed after firstline platinum-based combination chemotherapy, effective treatment options are limited, especially in the absence of targetable oncogenic mutations. In the past decade, docetaxel has remained the standard second-line agent. It has a low response rate of approximately 10% and diseases tend to progress shortly after treatment (1). In recent years, there have been major breakthroughs in the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced lung cancer, demonstrating an improved survival in the relapse setting (2-4).