%0 Journal Article
%T The estrogen pathway as a modulator of response to immunotherapy.
%A Velez MA
%A Burns TF
%A Stabile LP
%J Immunotherapy
%V 11
%N 13
%D 09 2019
%M 31361169
%F 4.04
%R 10.2217/imt-2019-0024
%X Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with a 5-year survival rate of about 18%. Thus, there is a great need for novel therapeutic approaches to treat non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved outcomes for a subset of patients, especially those with high programmed death-ligand 1 expression and/or high tumor mutational burden, but have failed in the majority of patients. Increasing evidence suggests that the estrogen signaling pathway may be a therapeutic target in metastatic NSCLC and that the estrogen pathway may play a role in sex-based responses to ICIs. This report will review the epidemiologic, preclinical and clinical data on the estrogen pathway in NSCLC, its implications in sex-based responses to ICIs and the potential use of antiestrogen therapy in combination with ICIs.