Long-term survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated using immune checkpoint inhibitors

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and has a high incidence of metastasis. For patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without targetable genomic driver mutation, the development of specific antibodies called immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) against the programmed death-1 receptor, its partner programmed death ligand-1, and the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 receptor have proved more effective than standard therapies in phase III trials and have led to unprecedented prolonged survival in the first-line setting. Long-lasting effects of ICI treatment have also been recorded and reported to persist even after the treatment is discontinued. Therefore, almost all patients with advanced NSCLC without driver mutation are treated with ICIs, such as PD-1 or PD-L1 therapy, in the first-line setting to achieve long-term response. However, a review summarizing the long-term survival of patients from different phase III trials is lacking to date. In this review, we aim to summarize data on the long-term survival of patients who received ICIs as first-line treatment.