Guest Editors
Prof. Francesco Petrella
Email: francesco.petrella@irccs-sangerardo.it;
francesco.petrella@unimi.it
Affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, 20900, Italy;
Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology, Univeristy of Milan, Milan, 20122, Italy.
Homepage: www.francescopetrella.com
Research Interests: Lung cancer, mesothelioma, pulmonary metastasectomy, chest wall tumors, mediastinal tumors
Summary
The integration of immunotherapy into the management of early-stage and locally advanced resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is transforming the therapeutic landscape. While surgery remains the cornerstone of curative treatment, recurrence rates after resection remain high, particularly in patients with stage II–III disease. Recent advances in immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), targeting PD-1/PD-L1 pathways, have demonstrated significant improvements in both event-free survival and overall survival when used in neoadjuvant or adjuvant settings. Landmark trials have shown that neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy can increase pathological complete response rates without compromising surgical feasibility. Similarly, adjuvant immunotherapy has prolonged disease-free survival in high-risk patients following complete resection and platinum-based chemotherapy.
These findings suggest that perioperative immunotherapy may alter the natural history of resectable NSCLC, providing durable immune-mediated tumor control and reducing recurrence risk. However, several challenges remain, including optimal patient selection, biomarkers for response prediction, treatment sequencing, and management of immune-related toxicities. This special issue aims to highlight current evidence, ongoing trials, and future directions in the use of immunotherapy for early-stage and locally advanced resectable NSCLC, emphasizing its growing role as part of a multimodal, personalized treatment strategy.
Keywords
secondary lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), pulmonary metastasectomy, immunotherapy
Published Papers
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