Response Evaluation of Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer

• Published in: Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases Vol. 80; no. 2; pp. 136 - 142
• Main Authors: Hwang, Ki-Eun, Kim, Hak-Ryul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 01.04.2017; 대한결핵및호흡기학회
• Subjects: Review; 내과학; Lung Neoplasms; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Drug Therapy
• ISSN: 1738-3536; 2005-6184
• DOI: 10.4046/trd.2017.80.2.136

Assessing response to therapy allows for prospective end point evaluation in clinical trials and serves as a guide to clinicians for making decisions. Recent prospective and randomized trials suggest the development of imaging techniques and introduction of new anti-cancer drugs. However, the revision of methods, or proposal of new methods to evaluate chemotherapeutic response, is not enough. This paper discusses the characteristics of the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumor (RECIST) version 1.1 suggested in 2009 and used widely by experts. It also contains information about possible dilemmas arising from the application of response assessment by the latest version of the response evaluation method, or recently introduced chemotherapeutic agents. Further data reveals the problems and limitations caused by applying the existing RECIST criteria to anti-cancer immune therapy, and the application of a new technique, immune related response criteria, for the response assessment of immune therapy. Lastly, the paper includes a newly developing response evaluation method and suggests its developmental direction.