The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently updated the NCCN Guidelines for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) to incorporate a new section about maintenance therapy, a number of new indications for specific therapies for advanced NSCLC, and the recently revised staging system for lung cancer. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
The updated NCCN Guidelines now include a description of maintenance therapy for patients with advanced or metastatic disease. Maintenance therapy refers to treatment that prevents a cancer from spreading after it has responded to initial treatments with chemotherapy (usually 4 to 6 rounds of treatment). This new section helps distinguish between recommended therapies for continuation maintenance versus switch maintenance.
Noteworthy updates to the NCCN Guidelines involving specific therapies for advanced NSCLC include: