Perioperative durvalumab in combination with chemotherapy should be considered as a potential new treatment option for resectable non-small cell lung cancer, according to US oncologists.

Results from their phase III randomised trial suggest that the addition of perioperative immunotherapy with durvalumab leads to greater event-free survival and pathological response than neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone.

Principal investigator Dr John Heymach, from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, said the monoclonal antibody-chemotherapy combination “may have the potential to change standard of care”.

The AstraZeneca-funded trial, dubbed AEGEAN, included 802 adults (mean age 65) with stage II-IIIB resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) given platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy.