CASPIAN is an open-label, phase III trial investigating the addition of the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab, either with or without the CTLA-4 inhibitor tremelimumab, to a chemotherapy backbone comprising etoposide plus carboplatin or cisplatin, in patients with previously untreated extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).
The PD-L1 inhibitor has previously been approved for the treatment of stage III non-small-cell lung cancer in USA, Europe, and other countries, following the positive results of the PACIFIC trial.
Phase III trial results
Adding durvalumab to first-line chemotherapy has been shown to significantly improve the overall survival of patients with ES-SCLC. Further data, presented at ESMO 2019, demonstrated that the combination is associated with better patient-reported outcomes than chemotherapy alone.