Fast Five Quiz: Squamous Cell Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

For patients with NSCLC stages I through IIIA, surgical resection with lobectomy is the preferred treatment. After complete resection of stage IB-IIIA NSCLC tumors, the 2021 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) guidelines recommend osimertinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, as adjuvant therapy in tumors that have EFGR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations. The US Food and Drug Administration approved osimertinib as adjuvant therapy after clinical trials that demonstrated significantly prolonged disease-free survival compared with placebo in patients with completely resected, early-stage, EGFR mutation–positive NSCLC.

Radiation therapy is considered for patients with positive margins or who are poor surgical candidates. When used alone as local therapy in patients who are not surgical candidates, radiation therapy has been associated with 5-year cancer-specific survival rates of 13%-39% in early-stage NSCLC.

In patients with squamous cell NSCLC, platinum-based chemotherapy is recommended as adjuvant therapy following surgery and for patients with unresectable tumors.

For additional information, refer to the guidelines for the diagnosis and management of NSCLC.

Learn more about the management of squamous cell NSCLC.

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Cite this: Maurie Markman. Fast Five Quiz: Squamous Cell Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - Medscape - Sep 15, 2022.

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