The EMPOWER-LUNG 3 trial showed that the CCT arm demonstrated better clinical benefits compared to the PCT arm, as evidenced by the prolonged OS and PFS of patients with advanced NSCLC However, as in some other countries (Godman et al., 2021), the affordability of innovative anticancer medicines (e.g., PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors) is a hitherto unknown and grave challenge for the majority of Chinese patients with cancer. The gene discussed is PDCD1; the disease is cancer.