Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death among males and the second leading cause among females globally. Checkpoint inhibitors re-engage the immune system to fight cancer. This review evaluates phase III data on the use of checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of advanced NSCLC and addresses PD-L1 expression in predicting efficacy. Six phase III clinical trials investigating checkpoint inhibitors for NSCLC were identified through a search of PubMed (to November 15, 2016) and conference databases, with findings updated from a directed search of eligible studies conducted in January 2018.
