Abstract
In this concise article, the author presents the differences between squamous cell and non-squamous ceil lung cancers in terms of clinical, phenotypic, and genetic parameters. Squamous cell cancers are generally associated with an older age of patients, more serious comorbidities, and less frequent metastases to the brain in comparison with non-squamous cell cancers.
In terms of genetics, they have a different spectrum of driver mutations, with biologically targeted therapy having only limited possibilities in these cancers (ramucirumab, erlotinib, afatinib). More recently, immune-oncological treatment using the monoclonal antibodies nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and, possibly, atezolizumab as well, has resulted in an improvement in the dire prognosis of patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.
The expression of PD-L1 is not a predictor of efficacy of these antibodies; what has shown promise in identifying optimal patients for this treatment is the assessment of tumour mutation load.