Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have received much attention not least for melanoma since the award of the Nobel prize in 2018. Here, we review the current state of knowledge about the use of these monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These drugs have generally been conditionally approved on limited early data and there are few long-term follow-up data from randomized clinical trials. The effect observed for NSCLC thus far is, on average, moderately better than that obtained with chemotherapy. Severe side-effects are more common than might have been expected. The drugs themselves are expensive and are associated with time-consuming histopathologic testing even though the predictive value of these tests can be discussed. In addition, monitoring for side-effects involves increased workload and budgetary expense for clinical chemistry laboratories. Here, we review and summarize the current knowledge, controversies and ambiguities of ICIs for the treatment of NSCLC.

自从2018年获得诺贝尔奖以来，免疫检查点抑制剂（ICIs）备受关注，尤其是黑色素瘤。这里，我们回顾了有关在非小细胞肺癌中使用这些单克隆抗体（mAb）的最新知识（NSCLC）。这些药物通常在有限的早期数据上有条件地获得批准，并且从随机临床试验获得的长期随访数据很少。到目前为止，对NSCLC观察到的效果平均要比化疗获得的效果中等。严重的副作用比预期的要普遍得多。这些药物本身很昂贵，并且与耗时的组织病理学检查有关，尽管可以讨论这些检查的预测价值。此外，监测副作用需要增加临床化学实验室的工作量和预算费用。在这里，我们回顾和总结ICIs治疗NSCLC的当前知识，争议和模棱两可。