Abstract
Objectives: This first-in-human phase I study (NCT03179436) investigated anti–cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 monoclonal antibody quavonlimab and anti–programmed death 1 monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab in patients with advanced solid tumors. The study was conducted in two parts: dose-escalation (part 1) and dose-confirmation (part 2). First-line treatment with quavonlimab + pembrolizumab conferred encouraging antitumor activity (objective response rate [ORR], 28%-40%) and was generally well tolerated (grade ≥ 3 treatment-related adverse events [TRAEs] were lowest with quavonlimab 25 mg every 6 weeks [Q6W] at 30% and highest with quavonlimab 75 mg Q3W at 57%) in non–small cell lung cancer. We present data from patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) receiving second-line or later therapy. Materials and Methods: Patients with stage III/IV SCLC received quavonlimab 75 mg Q6W plus pembrolizumab 200 mg Q3W for ≤ 2 years. Primary endpoints were safety and tolerability; ORRs as assessed by blinded independent central review per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors v1.1 was a secondary endpoint. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and the correlation of response with PD-L1 expression were exploratory endpoints. Results: Forty patients with extensive-stage SCLC received treatment; median follow-up was 13 months. Dose-limiting toxicity occurred in 4 patients (10%). TRAEs occurred in 80% of patients; grade 3 events occurred in 33% of patients and no grade 4/5 events were reported. Confirmed ORRs (95% CI) were 18% (7–33) among all patients, 7% (<1–34) for PD-L1–positive tumors (n = 14), and 19% (5–42) for PD-L1–negative tumors (n = 21). Response duration ranged from 2.9 to 19.1+ months. Median PFS was 2.0 months; 6-month PFS rate was 26%. Median OS was 11.0 months; 6-month OS rate was 66%. Conclusions: Encouraging antitumor activity was observed with quavonlimab + pembrolizumab in patients with extensive-stage SCLC; responses were observed in PD-L1–positive and PD-L1–negative tumors. The combination was tolerable with manageable toxicities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 162-170 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Lung Cancer |
| Volume | 159 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 Sept |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding for this study was provided by Merck Sharp and Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA. Employees from the funding body were involved in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Writing assistance was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.
Funding Information:
The authors thank the patients and their families and caregivers as well as the primary investigators and site personnel for participating in the study. The authors thank Jobin Cyrus, Brent Butts, Mohini Rajasagi, Yiwei Zhang, Charo Garrido, and Xiaoyun (Nicole) Li of from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. a subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc. Kenilworth, NJ, USA. Medical writing and/or editorial assistance was provided by Holly C. Cappelli, PhD, CMPP, and Dana Francis, PhD, of ApotheCom (Yardley, PA). This assistance was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. a subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc. Kenilworth, NJ, USA. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. a subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc. Kenilworth, NJ, USA (MSD) is committed to providing qualified scientific researchers access to anonymized data and clinical study reports from the company's clinical trials for the purpose of conducting legitimate scientific research. MSD is also obligated to protect the rights and privacy of trial participants and, as such, has a procedure in place for evaluating and fulfilling requests for sharing company clinical trial data with qualified external scientific researchers. The MSD data sharing website (available at: http://engagezone.msd.com/ds_documentation.php) outlines the process and requirements for submitting a data request. Applications will be promptly assessed for completeness and policy compliance. Feasible requests will be reviewed by a committee of MSD subject matter experts to assess the scientific validity of the request and the qualifications of the requestors. In line with data privacy legislation, submitters of approved requests must enter into a standard data-sharing agreement with MSD before data access is granted. Data will be made available for request after product approval in the US and EU or after product development is discontinued. There are circumstances that may prevent MSD from sharing requested data, including country or region-specific regulations. If the request is declined, it will be communicated to the investigator. Access to genetic or exploratory biomarker data requires a detailed, hypothesis-driven statistical analysis plan that is collaboratively developed by the requestor and MSD subject matter experts; after approval of the statistical analysis plan and execution of a data-sharing agreement, MSD will either perform the proposed analyses and share the results with the requestor or will construct biomarker covariates and add them to a file with clinical data that is uploaded to an analysis portal so that the requestor can perform the proposed analyses.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Oncology
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
- Cancer Research
