Neoadjuvant MPDL3280A, Nab-paclitaxel and Carboplatin (MAC) in NSCLC

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in both men and women worldwide, accounting for 13% of incident cancers. In 2015, it was estimated there would be 221,200 new lung cancers diagnosed in the United States, with 158,040 lung cancer deaths. Approximately 85% of all lung cancers are characterized as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Repeated studies have shown neoadjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy to be safe prior to surgical resection of NSCLC with no difference in extent of surgical procedures performed, operative morbidity and mortality. The debate remains as to whether neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy is the best approach, with advantages and disadvantages to each. The investigators propose that new therapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors that demonstrate promising clinical activity in the advanced disease setting must be incorporated into the neoadjuvant setting, in order to maximize benefit early in a patient's treatment course, and with a suitable surrogate endpoint that can be used to establish a preliminary efficacy signal, prior to initiation of a large confirmatory study.