medwireNews: The addition of nivolumab plus ipilimumab to first-line chemotherapy continues to be beneficial for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with longer follow-up, show updated phase 3 trial data.
In line with the primary analysis, previously reported by medwireNews, the current report showed that with a minimum follow-up of 24.4 months (median, 30.7 months), the risk for death was a significant 28% lower for the 361 participants who received dual checkpoint blockade plus two cycles of chemotherapy than for their 358 counterparts given four cycles of chemotherapy alone.
The median overall survival (OS) durations were 15.8 and 11.0 months, respectively, with corresponding 2-year OS rates of 38% and 26%, reported Martin Reck (Lung Clinic Grosshansdorf, Germany) at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Progression-free survival (PFS) at 2 years was also significantly better with the combination than with chemotherapy alone, with rates of 20% versus 8%, and a greater proportion of immunotherapy-treated patients had an ongoing response at this timepoint, at 34% versus 12%.
Of note, the OS and PFS advantage offered by adding nivolumab plus ipilimumab to chemotherapy was observed regardless of PD-L1 expression levels, histology, and CNS involvement, and “no new safety signals were observed with the longer follow-up,” noted Reck.
He concluded that “these results continue to support the combination […] as a very efficacious first-line treatment opportunity for patients with advanced [NSCLC].”
medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2021 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group