In the KEYNOTE-010 study, pembrolizumab improved overall survival (OS) versus docetaxel in previously treated, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)‒expressing advanced non‒small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ...in patients with a tumor proportion score (TPS) ≥ 50% and ≥ 1%. We report KEYNOTE-010 long-term outcomes, including after 35 cycles/2 years or second-course pembrolizumab.
Of 1,033 patients randomly assigned (intention to treat), 690 received up to 35 cycles/2 years of pembrolizumab 2 mg/kg (n = 344) or 10 mg/kg (n = 346) every 3 weeks, and 343 received docetaxel 75 mg/m
every 3 weeks. Eligible patients with disease progression after 35 cycles/2 years of pembrolizumab could receive second-course treatment (up to 17 cycles). Pembrolizumab doses were pooled because no between-dose difference was observed at primary analysis.
Pembrolizumab continued to improve OS over docetaxel in the PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50% and ≥ 1% groups (hazard ratio HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.66;
< .00001; and HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.80;
.00001, respectively) after a 42.6-month (range, 35.2-53.2 months) median follow-up. Estimated 36-month OS rates were 34.5% versus 12.7% and 22.9% versus 11.0%, respectively. Grade 3-5 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 16% versus 37% of patients, respectively. Seventy-nine of 690 patients completed 35 cycles/2 years of pembrolizumab; 12-month OS and progression-free survival rates after completing treatment were 98.7% (95% CI, 91.1% to 99.8%) and 72.5% (95% CI, 59.9% to 81.8%), respectively. Seventy-five patients (95%) had objective response (RECIST v1.1, blinded independent central review) and 48 (64%) had ongoing response. Grade 3-5 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 17.7% of patients. Fourteen patients received second-course pembrolizumab: 5 completed 17 cycles, 6 (43%) had partial response, and 5 (36%) had stable disease.
Pembrolizumab provided long-term OS benefit over docetaxel, with manageable safety, durable responses among patients receiving 2 years of treatment, and disease control with second-course treatment, further supporting pembrolizumab for previously treated, PD-L1‒expressing advanced NSCLC.
Event-free survival has replaced overall survival as a primary end point in many recent and ongoing clinical trials. This study aims to examine the correlation between real-world event-free survival ...and overall survival and to assess the clinical and economic burden associated with disease recurrence among patients with resected stage II to III non-small cell lung cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy in the United States.
This retrospective study used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare database (2007-2019) to identify patients with newly diagnosed, resected, stage II to IIIB (N2) non-small cell lung cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy. The correlation between real-world event-free survival and overall survival was assessed using the normal scores rank correlation and landmark analysis. Overall survival, all-cause health care resource use and costs, and non-small cell lung cancer-related health care resource use and costs were compared between patients with and without recurrence.
A total of 221 patients met the eligibility criteria (median follow-up time from neoadjuvant treatment initiation: 32.7 months). The mean age was 72.1 years, and 57.0% of patients were male. Real-world, event-free survival and overall survival are positively and significantly correlated (0.68; 95% CI, 0.52-0.79). Patients with recurrence had significantly shorter median overall survival (19.3 vs 116.9 months), 4.59 times increased risk of death (95% CI, 2.56-8.26), and significantly higher all-cause and non-small cell lung cancer-related health care resource use and costs (adjusted mean monthly costs per patient difference: $5758 and $3187, respectively all P < .001).
These findings help validate event-free survival as a clinically meaningful end point and strong predictor for overall survival and highlight the need for additional novel therapies that may delay or prevent recurrence in resectable stage II and III non-small cell lung cancer.
As the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) adjuvant treatment landscape evolves, an evaluation of treatment patterns and outcomes of patients with early-stage, resected NSCLC eligible for adjuvant ...treatment in routine clinical practice is needed to better understand the unmet needs in this patient population.
Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database (2007-2019) were used to identify patients with newly diagnosed stage IB (tumor size ≥4cm)-IIIA (AJCC 7th edition) NSCLC who received primary surgery (index date). We assessed adjuvant treatment patterns, real-world disease-free survival (rwDFS; time from index date to first recurrence or death) and overall survival (OS; time from index date to death), and loco-regional recurrence pattern and treatment distribution.
Among 1761 patients with primary surgery, mean age was 73.8 years; 47.9% were male; and 83.9% were white. Approximately 41% of patients received adjuvant chemotherapy; median time from surgery to adjuvant chemotherapy initiation was 48 days, and the most frequently observed adjuvant chemotherapy regimen was carboplatin+paclitaxel (24.5%). In the overall population, median rwDFS was 24.8 months and OS was 76.7 months; 5-year rwDFS and OS rates were 29.3% and 57.5%, respectively. Among 392 patients with loco-regional recurrence, the most frequently observed treatment was curative radiation monotherapy (28.2%).
Despite clinical guideline recommendations, rate of adjuvant chemotherapy among patients with resected early-stage NSCLC was low in clinical practice. Overall, among patients with early-stage NSCLC treated with conventional primary surgery, poor survival outcomes were observed, highlighting the need for and importance of more effective adjuvant treatments.
This study aimed to identify unmet needs of patients with early-stage, resected NSCLC using the SEER-Medicare database (2007-2019). Among 1761 patients included, 40.6% received adjuvant chemotherapy and two-thirds experienced disease recurrence during 4.5 years of follow-up. At 5 years, only 29.3% remained disease-free and 57.5% were alive. These findings highlight the need for more effective adjuvant treatment options.
•The risk of radiation pneumonitis (RP) in concomitant immunotherapy use is unclear.•A systematic literature review with Bayesian meta-analysis was performed.•There is a risk of pneumonitis in stage ...III NSCLC receiving chemoradiation.•Pooled incidence of grade 3–5 RP was 3.62% (RCT) and 5.98% (observational study).•Baseline risk of RP helps to inform the safety of concomitant immunotherapy use.
High-grade pneumonitis is a severe and potentially life-threatening adverse event associated with concurrent chemoradiation (cCRT) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to summarize and quantify the incidence of severe (grade 3–5) cCRT-induced pneumonitis in unresectable stage III NSCLC patients.
A systematic literature review and meta-analysis were performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Published literature was searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies, and non-randomized trials from 2014 to April 2020. The primary outcome of interest was incidence of grade 3–5 pneumonitis.
Included were 17 studies for the review and 11 for the meta-analysis (1,788 participants); all studies examined radiation-related pneumonitis (RP). The pooled incidence of cCRT-induced grade 3–5 RP in unresectable stage III NSCLC patients was estimated to be 3.62% 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.65–6.21 in RCTs, 5.98% 95% CI: 2.26–12.91 in observational studies, and 7.85% 95% CI: 4.08–13.10 in observational studies using platinum-based doublet chemotherapies.
These results suggest the incidence of severe and fatal RP in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC treated with cCRT ranges from 3.62% to 7.85%, with incidence varying by study design and chemotherapy regimen. Estimates of RP incidence were higher in the real-world setting compared to RCTs. These results can be used to contextualize the baseline risk of cCRT-induced pneumonitis in unresectable stage III NSCLC to better understand the adverse event of pneumonitis associated with novel immunotherapy treatments indicated for concomitant use with this modality.
Intermediate endpoints, such as disease-free survival (DFS), have shown good correlation with overall survival (OS) in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) clinical trials. However, ...real-world data are limited, and no previous real-world study has quantified the clinical and economic burden of disease recurrence.
To examine the association between real-world DFS (rwDFS) and OS and quantify the association between NSCLC recurrence and health care resource utilization (HCRU), health care costs, and OS in patients with resected early-stage NSCLC in the United States.
Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database (2007-2019) for patients with newly diagnosed stage IB (tumor size ≥ 4 cm) to IIIA (American Joint Committee on Cancer 7th edition) NSCLC who underwent surgery for primary NSCLC were analyzed in this retrospective observational study. Baseline patient demographic and clinical characteristics were described. rwDFS and OS were compared between patients with vs without recurrence using Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test; their correlation was assessed using normal scores rank correlation. All-cause and NSCLC-related HCRU and health care costs were summarized, and mean monthly allcause and NSCLC-related health care costs were compared between cohorts using generalized linear models.
Of the 1,761 patients who underwent surgery, 1,182 (67.1%) had disease recurrence; these patients had shorter OS from the index date and shorter subsequent OS at each postsurgery landmark (ie, 1, 3, and 5 years) than those without recurrence (all
< 0.001). OS and rwDFS were significantly correlated (0.57;
< 0.001). Patients with recurrence also had significantly higher all-cause and NSCLC-related HCRU and mean monthly all-cause and NSCLC-related health care costs during the study period.
Postsurgery rwDFS was significantly correlated with OS in patients with early-stage NSCLC. Patients with postsurgery recurrence had a higher risk of death and incurred higher HCRU and health care costs than those without recurrence. These findings highlight the importance of preventing or delaying recurrence in patients with resected NSCLC.
Dr West is Senior Medical Director at AccessHope and an Associate Professor at City of Hope. He also serves on the advisory board for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Genentech/Roche, Gilead, Merck, Mirati Therapeutics, Regeneron, Summit Therapeutics, and Takeda and as a speaker for AstraZeneca and Merck. Drs Hu, Chirovsky, and Samkari are employees of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA and own stock/stock options in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA. Drs Zhang, Song, Gao, and Signorovitch, Mr Lerner, and Ms Jiang are employees of Analysis Group, Inc., a consulting company that has provided paid consulting services to Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, which funded the development and conduct of this study and article. This study used the linked SEER-Medicare database. The interpretation and reporting of these data are the sole responsibility of the authors. The collection of cancer incidence data used in this study was supported by the California Department of Public Health pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 103885; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries, under cooperative agreement 5NU58DP006344; the National Cancer Institute's SEER Program under contract HHSN261201800032I awarded to the University of California, San Francisco, contract HHSN261201800015I awarded to the University of Southern California, and contract HHSN261201800009I awarded to the Public Health Institute. The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the State of California, Department of Public Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or their contractors and subcontractors.
Real-world data on outcomes for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are needed to better understand the benefits of new therapies.
In this retrospective study using the ConcertAI ...Patient360™ database, overall survival and healthcare resource utilization were compared among patients with recurrent and non-recurrent completely resected stage IB-IIIA NSCLC.
Recurrence was associated with a shorter median overall survival compared with non-recurrence (31.5 months vs 75.6 months, respectively), lower survival probability 5-years post-resection, and higher healthcare resource utilization. Patients with late recurrence had a longer restricted mean survival time versus patients with early recurrence.
Results from this real-world study highlight the potential value of preventing or delaying recurrence in patients with early-stage NSCLC.
Novel neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy treatments are being investigated for locally advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but real-world outcomes for neoadjuvant treatments are poorly ...understood. This study examined neoadjuvant treatment patterns, real-world event-free survival (rwEFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with resected, stage II-III NSCLC in the United States (US).
This retrospective study identified patients in the SEER–Medicare database (2007-2019) with newly diagnosed stage II, IIIA, and IIIB (N2) NSCLC (AJCC 8th edition) treated with neoadjuvant chemo/chemoradiotherapy and resection (index date: neoadjuvant therapy initiation). Neoadjuvant treatment regimens were described. rwEFS (time from index to first recurrence or death, whichever occurred first) and OS (time from index to death) were summarized by Kaplan–Meier analysis for overall population, by disease stage at diagnosis, and by neoadjuvant treatment modality.
221 patients (stage II, N=70; stage III, N=151) met eligibility criteria. The median follow-up from index was 32.7 months. All patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (51%) or chemoradiotherapy (49%) prior to surgery; 97% of patients received platinum-based regimens, among which carboplatin+paclitaxel was the most frequent (45%). In all patients, median rwEFS was 17.6 months and 5-year rwEFS was 20.9%; median OS was 48.5 months and 5-year OS was 44.9%. 71% of patients had disease recurrence during follow-up; among them, 28% developed locoregional recurrence as the first recurrence event.
Patients with resected, stage II-III NSCLC who received neoadjuvant chemo/chemoradiotherapy have high rates of disease recurrence and poor survival outcomes, highlighting need for more effective treatments to improve survival rates.
This study aimed to examine treatment patterns, real-world event-free survival and overall survival among patients with resected, stage II-III NSCLC who received neoadjuvant treatment using SEER-Medicare data (2007-2019). Among 221 patients included, 71% experienced disease recurrence during follow-up; at 5 years, only 20.9% remained event-free and 44.9% stayed alive. These findings highlight the unmet need for more effective neoadjuvant treatments.
The safety profile of adjuvant pembrolizumab was evaluated in a pooled analysis of 4 phase 3 clinical trials.
Patients had completely resected stage IIIA, IIIB, or IIIC melanoma per American Joint ...Committee on Cancer, 7th edition, criteria (AJCC-7; KEYNOTE-054); stage IIB or IIC melanoma per AJCC-8 (KEYNOTE-716); stage IB, II, or IIIA non–small cell lung cancer per AJCC-7 (PEARLS/KEYNOTE-091); or postnephrectomy/metastasectomy clear cell renal cell carcinoma at increased risk of recurrence (KEYNOTE-564). Patients received adjuvant pembrolizumab 200 mg (2 mg/kg up to 200 mg for pediatric patients) or placebo every 3 weeks for approximately 1 year. Adverse events (AEs) were summarized for patients who received ≥ 1 dose of treatment.
Data were pooled from 4125 patients treated with pembrolizumab (n = 2060) or placebo (n = 2065). Median (range) duration of treatment was 11.1 months (0.0–18.9) with pembrolizumab and 11.2 months (0.0–18.1) with placebo. Treatment-related AEs occurred in 78.6 % (1620/2060) of patients in the pembrolizumab group (grade 3–5, 16.3 % 336/2060) and 58.7 % (1212/2065) in the placebo group (grade 3–5, 3.5 % 72/2065). Immune-mediated AEs (e.g. adrenal insufficiency, hypophysitis, and thyroiditis) occurred in 36.2 % (746/2060) of patients in the pembrolizumab group (grade 3–5, 8.6 % 177/2060) and 8.4 % (174/2065) in the placebo group (grade 3–5, 1.1 % 23/2065). Of patients with ≥ 1 immune-mediated AE or infusion reaction, systemic corticosteroids were required for 35.2 % (268/761) and 20.2 % (39/193) of patients in the pembrolizumab and placebo groups, respectively.
Adjuvant pembrolizumab demonstrated a manageable safety profile that was comparable to prior reports in advanced disease.
•Data were pooled from 4125 patients treated with adjuvant pembrolizumab or placebo.•Treatment-related AEs occurred in 78.6 % with pembrolizumab (grade 3–5, 16.3 %).•Immune-mediated AEs occurred in 36.2 % with pembrolizumab (grade 3–5, 8.6 %).•Corticosteroids for immune-mediated AEs were required for 35.2 % with pembrolizumab.•Adjuvant pembrolizumab had a safety profile comparable to that of advanced disease.
Lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab was found to have antitumor activity and acceptable safety in previously treated metastatic NSCLC. We evaluated first-line lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab versus placebo ...plus pembrolizumab in metastatic NSCLC in the LEAP-007 study (NCT03829332/NCT04676412).
Patients with previously untreated stage IV NSCLC with programmed cell death-ligand 1 tumor proportion score of at least 1% without targetable EGFR/ROS1/ALK aberrations were randomized 1:1 to lenvatinib 20 mg or placebo once daily; all patients received pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks for up to 35 cycles. Primary end points were progression-free survival (PFS) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 and overall survival (OS). We report results from a prespecified nonbinding futility analysis of OS performed at the fourth independent data and safety monitoring committee review (futility bound: one-sided p < 0.4960).
A total of 623 patients were randomized. At median follow-up of 15.9 months, median (95% confidence interval CI) OS was 14.1 (11.4‒19.0) months in the lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab group versus 16.4 (12.6‒20.6) months in the placebo plus pembrolizumab group (hazard ratio = 1.10 95% CI: 0.87‒1.39, p = 0.79744 futility criterion met). Median (95% CI) PFS was 6.6 (6.1‒8.2) months versus 4.2 (4.1‒6.2) months, respectively (hazard ratio = 0.78 95% CI: 0.64‒0.95). Grade 3 to 5 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 57.9% of patients (179 of 309) versus 24.4% (76 of 312). Per data and safety monitoring committee recommendation, the study was unblinded and lenvatinib and placebo were discontinued.
Lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab did not have a favorable benefit‒risk profile versus placebo plus pembrolizumab. Pembrolizumab monotherapy remains an approved treatment option in many regions for first-line metastatic NSCLC with programmed cell death-ligand 1 tumor proportion score of at least 1% without EGFR/ALK alterations.
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