Immunotherapy Advances in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is aggressive and often difficult to treat, but many patients may have new hope. On August 17, 2018, the FDA approved the first immunotherapy—the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo®, Bristol-Myers Squibb)—for patients with small cell lung cancer. Since this approval, there has been renewed focus on how to make different immunotherapies work for a disease which typicallly comprises 10-15% of all lung cancer cases. 

In this webinar for patients and caregivers, Matthew Hellmann, M.D., of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center discusses the new FDA approval, clinical trials, and potential treatments for patients with small cell lung cancer. 

Dr. Matthew Hellmann specializes in the care of patients with lung cancers. He is dedicated to identifying better treatments for people with all stages of disease and to providing compassionate care for patients and their families. His research focuses on developing innovative and effective ways to harness the body’s immune system to fight cancer. He is a member of the Immunotherapeutics Group, which designs and leads early-phase clinical trials of immunotherapies for patients with a variety of different cancers.

The "Cancer Immunotherapy and You" webinar series is produced by the Cancer Research Institute and is hosted by our science writer, Arthur Brodsky, Ph.D. This special episode in our webinar series is made possible with generous support from Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Browse our Cancer Immunotherapy and You Webinar Series playlist on YouTube or visit the Webinars page on our website to see other webinars in this series.