On October 3, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Opdivo (nivolumab) to be used with platinum-doublet chemotherapy as a treatment before surgery, followed by Opdivo (nivolumab) alone after surgery. This approval is for people with resectable (removable by surgery) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who do not have known EGFR or ALK mutations.

This approval is based on the results of the CHECKMATE-77T study, which looked at people with previously untreated and resectable NSCLC (stage 2A/IIA to stage 3B/IIIB). Participants were given either Opdivo (nivolumab) or placebo with platinum-based chemotherapy before surgery, followed by Opdivo (nivolumab) or placebo alone following surgery. Results found that participants in the study’s Opdivo (nivolumab) arm went much longer without disease recurrence, progression, or harmful side effects leading to stopped treatment than participants in the placebo arm.

Opdivo (nivolumab) has previously been approved for several uses in NSCLC, including metastatic disease. Please speak with your healthcare team for more information about Opdivo (nivolumab) to see if it may be a good option for you. If you have questions about treatment, trials, or biomarker testing, contact our LungMATCH team at support@go2.org or 1-800-298-2436.

Read the full FDA announcement.