Angiogenesis and lung cancer: ramucirumab prolongs survival in 2(nd)-line metastatic NSCLC

In the REVEL trial, ramucirumab, a monoclonal antibody to VEGFR-2, improved overall survival in combination with docetaxel compared to docetaxel alone in the second-line setting of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Along with bevacizumab and nintedanib, ramucirumab is the third anti-angiogenic agent that has yielded positive overall survival results in a phase III trial of patients with advanced NSCLC. Given the lack of effective therapies in the relapsed setting and the disappointing results of many other VEGF-targeted agents in lung cancer, the results from REVEL are encouraging. One of the major remaining hurdles is the identification of reliable predictive biomarkers in order to predict which patients are most likely to benefit from anti-angiogenic therapies. Despite the positive results seen in REVEL, the exact role of ramucirumab in the treatment paradigm of lung cancer remains to be seen given the modest survival benefit of 1.4 months and the lack of predictive biomarkers at this time.