Updates in Frontline Therapy Using Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Clinical Pearls for Pharmacists Involved in Patient Care

Program Description
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have changed the treatment paradigm of non−small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ICIs have become standard of care in the setting of metastatic disease, with multiple ICIs approved for NSCLC in the past 2 years. The rapidly evolving landscape of NSCLC has necessitated that pharmacists involved in the care of these patients be able to identify candidates for therapy with ICIs with the use of biomarkers assessing PD-L1 expression. With the use of ICIs becoming more prevalent, pharmacists on the oncology care team have an essential role in assessing and monitoring patients for risk of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). This activity will include discussion of practice guideline updates and effective measures for pharmacists to provide counseling about management of irAEs to patients with NSCLC and contribute to their continuum of care.

Target audience: Health-system and oncology pharmacists

Type of activity: Application
Release date: December 20, 2021
Expiration date: June 20, 2022

Time to complete activity: 1.5 hours
Fee: Free

Educational Objectives

At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Interpret recent and emerging clinical data around the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the first-line treatment of non−small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
• Identify challenges associated with the use of PD-L1 as a predictive biomarker for use of ICIs in NSCLC
• Demonstrate prompt recognition of symptoms and early intervention of less common immune-related adverse events