PDCD1 and non-small cell lung carcinoma: Notably, mounting clinical trials demonstrate that immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), specifically those targeting programmed death 1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), have significantly increased the survival of patients with metastatic NSCLC, boosting the 5-year survival rate from less than 5% historically to approximately 30% presently for treatment-naïve patients [3, 4].