Why carry out this study?

Lung cancer ranks highest in mortality of all cancers in the United States.

Pneumonitis is a potentially serious side effect of non-small–cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment that may lead to treatment discontinuation.

The objective was to estimate the cumulative incidence and incidence rates, and identify predictors of treatment-related pneumonitis in NSCLC patients.

What was learned from the study?

Nineteen percent of patients developed pneumonitis over the course of their NSCLC treatment, with male gender, history of pneumonitis, use of other targeted therapies, use of immunomodulatory drugs, and history of radiation therapy all predicting pneumonitis.

Awareness of the pneumonitis predictors identified in this study may help clinicians devise strategies to mitigate the impact of pneumonitis, enhance treatment adherence, and improve outcomes.