Over the past decade, immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) or programmed cell death protein ligand-1 (PD-L1) have opened a new epoch of treatment for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with improved survival and durable responses compared with chemotherapy in patients both in first- and second-line treatment (1–5). Here, PDCD1 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.