Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive form of lung cancer associated with high mortality rates. Most patients experience relapse after first-line therapy, and there is no approved drug after second-line therapy. With immune checkpoint therapies rapidly becoming the standard of care in the second-line treatment of metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer, there is tremendous hope that these agents will prove effective in SCLC.

Immunotherapy represents a new era in the treatment of cancer patients. Immunomodulating agents increase overall survival and induce highly durable tumor responses in a rapidly expanding patient population. In this dynamic and rapidly evolving landscape, there is significant need to educate nurses and patients on this therapeutic class and its associated toxicities.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is an immunotherapeutic approach used in the treatment of various hematologic malignancies. CAR T-cell therapy utilizes gene transfer to reprogram the patient’s own T-cells to recognize and target tumor-associated antigens. Although groundbreaking and incredibly efficacious, CAR T-cell therapy has serious side effects that require prompt identification and intervention.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is considered a living drug. The patient’s own T-cells are genetically engineered to express CARs that recognize tumor-associated antigens. CAR T-cell therapy has proved efficacious in various hematologic malignancies, and is promising in solid tumors.

The immunotherapeutic landscape is dynamic and rapidly evolving. Immunomodulating therapies have proved effective in enhancing overall patient survival and inducing highly durable tumor responses. In this exciting and rapidly progressing setting, there is significant need for biosafety procedures to prevent unacceptable exposures.

Immunotherapy represents a groundbreaking advance in the care of cancer patients. It modulates the body’s immune system to promote tumor destruction, and is now considered the fourth pillar of cancer treatment. Immunotherapeutic agents are associated with higher rates of immune-related adverse events that require immediate identification and intervention to prevent treatment cessation or fatal consequences.

Immunotherapy represents a revolutionary advance in the care of cancer patients, and is now considered the fourth pillar of cancer treatment. Immunomodulating agents promote tumor destruction and enhance patient survival. They also result in a higher incidence of immune-related adverse events that require prompt recognition for effective management.

Nivolumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor proved to extend survival in patients with metastatic melanoma, non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and renal-cell carcinoma (RCC). When patients receive nivolumab combined with ipilimumab, they experience higher tumor response rates and increased progression-free survival. Patients receiving combined immunotherapeutic agents experience higher rates of immune-related adverse events compared with patients receiving monotherapy.

The open-label, international, multicenter, multinational, phase 2 SUMMIT trial explored the efficacy and safety of neratinib monotherapy in patients with HER2-mutant metastatic breast cancer (MBC), and neratinib in combination with fulvestrant in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and HER2-positive MBC.

Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. Despite the efficacy of trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting, 1 in 4 patients experience disease recurrence. Neratinib is a potent, irreversible, pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor that can combat mechanisms of disease escape and recurrence experienced with other HER2-targeted therapies.