CheckMate 816 at ASCO 2025: OS Update and Impact on Early-Stage NSCLC Care

Video content above is prompted by the following:

The long-awaited overall survival data from CheckMate 816, presented at ASCO 2025, represents a watershed moment in early-stage non–small cell lung cancer treatment, validating the transformative impact of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy on patient outcomes. With a median follow-up of 68.4 months, the trial demonstrated a significant overall survival benefit with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.72 favoring the chemoimmunotherapy regimen, translating to landmark 5-year overall survival rates of 65% vs 55% for chemotherapy alone.

The subgroup analyses revealed particularly compelling insights for clinical practice, with the greatest benefit observed in patients with higher PD-L1 expression levels. Patients with PD-L1 expression greater than 50% showed a remarkable HR of 0.33, whereas those with 1% to 49% expression demonstrated an HR of 0.66. Most strikingly, no patients who achieved pCR died from disease progression, suggesting potential cure rates approaching 95% in this subset compared with only 56% 5-year survival in non-pCR patients.

These findings have profound implications for treatment selection and patient counseling, highlighting the critical importance of achieving pCR as a surrogate for long-term outcomes. The data support both neoadjuvant-only approaches for patients achieving pCR and perioperative strategies for those with incomplete pathologic responses, providing oncologists with evidence-based frameworks for personalizing treatment intensity based on individual response markers.