Tislelizumab for advanced non-small cell lung cancer after platinum based chemotherapy

Tislelizumab is in clinical development to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have previously been treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. NSCLC makes up the majority of lung cancers in the UK. Metastatic NSCLC is when the cancer has spread beyond the lung that was initially affected, most often to the liver, adrenal glands, bones, and the brain. Most patients with NSCLC are diagnosed at the advanced/metastatic stage where curative treatment with surgery is unsuitable.
Tislelizumab is a drug, administered intravenously, that has been designed to recognise and block a target called PD-1 found on certain cells of the immune system. Some cancers make a protein that attaches to PD-1 and switches off the immune cells’ ability to attack the cancer. By blocking PD-1, tislelizumab stops the cancer switching off these immune cells, thereby increasing the immune system’s ability to kill the cancer cells. If licenced, tislelizumab will provide an additional second or third-line treatment option for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic (Stage IIIB or IV) NSCLC who have progressed on a prior platinum-containing regimen.