Recent advances in the field of novel anticancer agents prolong patients' survival and show a promising future. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immunotherapy for lung cancer are the two major areas undergoing rapid development. Although increasing novel anticancer agents were innovated, how to translate and optimize these novel agents into clinical practice remains to be explored. Besides, toxicities and availability of these drugs in specific regions should also be considered during clinical determination. Herein, we summarize emerging agents including tyrosine kinase inhibitors, checkpoint inhibitors, and other potential immunotherapy such as chimeric antigen receptor T cell for non-small cell lung cancer attempting to provide insights and perspectives of the future in anticancer treatment.

Background: Locally advanced NSCLC is one of the most heterogeneous conditions, with multidimensional treatments involved. Neoadjuvant therapy had been commonly considered an optimal management strategy for patients with operable locally advanced. However, as targeted therapy has been widely applied in advanced NSCLC, neoadjuvant targeted therapy has remained poorly explored in locally advanced disease.

Solid predominant LUAD was identified as a subtype with adaptive immune resistance, higher cytotoxic activity, and enhanced immunogenicity. These findings suggest that patients with solid predominant LUAD may represent a potential selective group that will benefit from adjuvant programmed cell death 1 blockade immunotherapy.