Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer

What Is Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer?

Immunotherapy for lung cancer improves the way the immune system works to kill malignant (cancerous) cells and tumors.

Lung cancer immunotherapy is a type of medication that helps immune cells seek out and find lung cancer cells, which could be hiding from the normal immune system response.

Immunotherapy Lung Cancer Quick Facts

• Immunotherapy can treat the two main types of lung cancer, those being non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
• The American Cancer Society (ACS) notes that patients at any stage of lung cancer may benefit from immunotherapy treatments.
• Commonly used lung cancer immunotherapy drugs are atezolizumab (Tecentriq®), nivolumab (Opdivo®), pembrolizumab (Keytruda®), and durvalumab (Imfinzi®).
• Doctors can use immunotherapy in combination with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and more to destroy as much cancer as possible and improve patient survival times.

Learn more about immunotherapy for lung cancer and how to afford this treatment with our Free Lung Cancer Guide.

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How Immunotherapy Lung Cancer Treatments Work

Each person’s immune system is supposed to protect against foreign cells, such as the ones that cause sicknesses like the flu. But lung cancer cells are mutated versions of normal cells, so they can escape detection by the immune system.

Immunotherapy drugs are a workaround: They allow the cancer cells that are hiding to be found and killed.

The most common types of immunotherapy lung cancer drugs are immune checkpoint inhibitors, which help put the immune system in overdrive.

Here’s how this type of immunotherapy for lung cancer works:

1. Lung cancer cells make proteins: Lung cancer cells release proteins that trick the immune system’s T cells not to attack. The proteins on the lung cancer cells attach to the T cells’ protein receptors so they won’t be destroyed.
2. Immunotherapy drugs interfere:  Immunotherapy drugs disrupt the interaction between the protein receptors on T cells and the proteins on cancer cells.
3. T cells reactivate: Because the immunotherapy drugs have stopped the cancer proteins, the T cells reactivate and target the lung cancer cells, killing them.

Many types of immunotherapy for lung cancer are already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with more being studied in ongoing trials.

Types of Immunotherapy Drugs for Lung Cancer

Common lung cancer immunotherapy drugs include PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors, CTLA-4 inhibitors, CAR T cell medications, and vaccines.

Each type of immunotherapy for lung cancer works in slightly different ways, but the goal of all of them is to help your immune system in the fight against the tumors.

PD-1 and PD-L1 Checkpoint Inhibitors

These immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs make it easier for your body to spot and kill cancer cells by blocking the PD-1 or PD-L1 proteins.

Examples of immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs include:

• Atezolizumab (Tecentriq®) and durvalumab (Imfinzi®): Both of these target PD-L1, which lung cancer cells produce. The PD-L1 binds to the PD-1 found on T cells, turning off the T cells’ ability to fight the cancer.
• Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®), cemiplimab (Libtayo®), and nivolumab (Opdivo®): These block PD-1 found on T cells so they can destroy more lung tumor cells.

PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors are some of the most commonly used immunotherapies for lung cancer. Some combinations have recently received FDA approval to treat additional types of cancers, including mesothelioma.

Learn how to afford lung cancer immunotherapy treatments: Call (877) 446-5767 now.

CTLA-4 Inhibitors

These lung cancer immunotherapies block a protein found on T cells called CTLA-4. Like PD-1, this protein serves as a “brake” that stops T cells from killing healthy cells. But, since lung cancer cells can hide from your T cells, turning it off can destroy more of the cancer.

Lung cancer CTLA-4 immunotherapies include:

• Ipilimumab (Yervoy®)
• Tremelimumab (Imjudo®)

Doctors usually prescribe these drugs with a PD-1 inhibitor. They’re typically used as a treatment for advanced or metastatic NSCLC, often with chemotherapy included, according to the ACS.

While CTLA-4 immunotherapies aren’t as commonly used as those targeting PD-1 or PD-L1, they are still a good option for many patients with lung cancer.

Other Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Besides PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4, other lung cancer immunotherapy drugs attack proteins that are vital to the growth and spread of tumors.

Notable immune checkpoint inhibitors include:

• Bevacizumab (Avastin®): This medication blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF controls the blood vessels in lung cancer tumors. Without new blood vessels, lung cancer tumors will shrink and die.
• Amivantamab (Rybrevant®): This targets MET and epidermal growth factor receptors found in lung cancer cells.

Doctors can use tests to help determine if immune checkpoint inhibitors or another type of immunotherapy could work for your specific lung cancer diagnosis.

Cancer Vaccines

Cancer vaccines try to get your immune system to attack cancer cells by targeting antigens (substances on cancer cells that healthy ones do not have), according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

There are two types of cancer vaccines:

• Cancer treatment vaccines: These can help patients fight cancer after a diagnosis. Arguably, the most notable lung cancer immunotherapy vaccine is CIMAvax-EGF. This treats lung cancer by preventing the cells from getting epidermal growth factor, a protein they rely on to survive.
• Preventative lung cancer virus treatments: These stimulate the immune system to destroy certain viruses that increase the risk of cancer later in life.

Lung cancer vaccines are still being studied in clinical trials. The first clinical trial testing a preventative vaccine known as LungVax is set to begin in 2026.

CAR T Cell Therapy

Through chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, also known as adoptive T cell immunotherapy, doctors remove T cells from the patient, enhance them so they’re better able to fight lung cancer cells, and put them back into the body.

At this time, CAR T cell immunotherapy for lung cancer is still being investigated for both NSCLC and SCLC, according to a 2025 report from Lung Cancer.

We can help you afford the best lung cancer immunotherapies and other treatments. Get our Free Lung Cancer Guide to learn more.

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What to Expect During Immunotherapy Treatment for Lung Cancer

Undergoing immunotherapy for lung cancer can be daunting or worrisome, especially if it’s your first time.

Here’s a summary of what to expect:

1. Doctors will recommend biomarker testing to determine if you’re a good candidate for lung cancer immunotherapy. If the tests find high levels of PD-L1 or other proteins related to lung cancer, you can move forward with getting immunotherapy.
2. Your immunotherapy treatments will be scheduled at a doctor’s office. You will receive the drug through an intravenous (IV) line, usually in your arm. Each treatment session takes 30 to 90 minutes.
3. Depending on which drug you’re prescribed, you will receive a dose every 2 to 6 weeks unless you have certain side effects or your lung cancer tumors shrink.
4. After a recovery period, you may have to repeat this process for multiple cycles of immunotherapy for lung cancer over a few months.

In some situations, how you receive lung cancer immunotherapies varies. For example, SCLC may be treated with an under-the-skin injection of two immunotherapy drugs, Tecentriq® and hyaluronidase-tqjs (Hybreza), typically administered every 3 weeks, per the ACS.

Talk to your cancer care team about the location, dates, and length of your appointments, as well as your overall treatment plan.

Immunotherapy Side Effects for Lung Cancer

Like other cancer treatments, lung cancer immunotherapy can cause side effects. This is because healthy cells could be destroyed by the immune system along with cancerous ones.

These side effects are different for everyone and depend on factors such as the specific immunotherapy drugs you receive, your general health, the type and stage of lung cancer you have, and other factors.

Side effects of immunotherapy for lung cancer include:

• Appetite loss
• Cough
• Diarrhea and constipation
• Fatigue
• Itching
• Joint pain
• Skin rash

Immunotherapy for lung cancer side effects can be uncomfortable, but there are ways to manage them. Talk to your health care team to get help feeling your best while getting needed immunotherapy treatments.

Lung Cancer Immunotherapy and Other Treatments

Besides immunotherapy, you may receive other lung cancer treatments depending on your health, lung cancer type, and other factors. Using more than one treatment besides immunotherapy for lung cancer is often recommended to help kill more cancer cells.

Surgery

Lung cancer surgery involves a doctor cutting out cancerous tissue. Immunotherapy is typically less hard on the body than surgery. However, surgery is often very effective.

Immunotherapy may be used before lung cancer surgery to shrink a tumor or after to kill cancer cells that couldn’t be surgically removed, according to the ACS.

Call (877) 446-5767 to learn how you can afford lung cancer treatments like surgery and immunotherapy.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy involves using special medicines to kill or shrink lung cancer. Because chemotherapy kills both good and bad cells, it also has more side effects.

The ACS notes that chemotherapy and immunotherapy are often used together to help lung cancer patients live longer. The combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy is often recommended if the lung tumor has high levels of the PD-L1 protein.

Radiation Therapy

This cancer treatment uses high-energy rays to kill lung cancer tumor cells. Doctors can use radiation and immunotherapy at various points in a lung cancer patient’s treatment plan to destroy more cancer cells.

For example, the ACS notes that immunotherapy may be used as adjuvant therapy, meaning it’s provided after radiation and chemotherapy, to kill NSCLC tumors in some cases.

Targeted Therapy

Immunotherapy is actually considered a subset of a wider treatment branch called targeted therapy.

These therapies target elements unique to lung cancer cells so the cancer can be killed with less damage to healthy cells.

Benefits of Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer Treatment

Immunotherapy for lung cancer has been shown to be incredibly promising for many patients, as it can be used in many different ways to help more people live longer.

Some of the benefits of lung cancer immunotherapy include:

• Having fewer side effects: In many situations, lung cancer immunotherapy side effects are more easily tolerated when compared to chemotherapy.
• Helping late-stage patients: Immunotherapy offers another option for those with stage 3 and 4 lung cancer, which is important as advanced cancers may otherwise be difficult to treat. Both late-stage NSCLC and SCLC patients could potentially live longer with immunotherapy.
• Working well with other treatments: Numerous studies have shown that immunotherapy is helpful as part of a larger lung cancer treatment plan, where different therapeutic options are used to kill more of the cancer.

While not everyone may be able to receive lung cancer immunotherapy treatments, more options are being tested regularly with the hope of being able to help more patients.

How Immunotherapy Affects Lung Cancer Prognosis

Though lung cancer has a poor prognosis (expected health outcome), immunotherapy may help patients live longer.

For example, 79% of advanced NSCLC patients were still alive 2 years after stopping a 2-year immunotherapy treatment plan in a 2023 JAMA Oncology study. The 2-year survival rate increased to 81% in NSCLC patients who received immunotherapy for longer than 2 years.

Talk to your health care team to learn if immunotherapy may help improve your lung cancer prognosis.

Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer Costs

The cost of immunotherapy for lung cancer varies depending on the treatment plan and drug type. However, lung cancer immunotherapy drugs tend to be very expensive.

Fortunately, the costs of immunotherapy for lung cancer and other expenses may be covered by your insurance.

In addition, if your lung cancer stems from asbestos exposure, you may be eligible to file private claims to help with medical bills. Contact our team now to learn more.

Find Immunotherapy Treatment for Lung Cancer

Immunotherapy for lung cancer is one of several key treatment options that could help you live longer. When used alongside other treatments like chemotherapy, long-term survival may be possible.

Reach out to a doctor to find out if immunotherapy for lung cancer might be an option for you. Doctors can see if your cancer might respond well to immunotherapy treatments.

Lung Cancer Group can also help you pursue financial compensation so you can afford immunotherapies and other medications.

Call (877) 446-5767 now or get our Free Lung Cancer Guide to learn more.