Dr. Altorki on the Results of Post-Hoc Analyses of the IMpower010 Trial in NSCLC

Nasser Khaled Altorki, MD, professor of cardiothoracic surgery, director, Division of Thoracic Surgery, NewYorkPresbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, David B. Skinner, MD Professor of Thoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medicine, attending cardiothoracic surgeon, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the results of post-hoc analyses of the phase 3 IMpower010 trial (NCT02486718) in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients with completely resected stage IB to IIIA NSCLC enrolled on the IMpower010 trial were randomized 1:1 to receive atezolizumab (Tecentriq) vs best supportive care. The primary end point of the trial was disease-free survival (DFS).

During the 2021 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2021 World Conference on Lung Cancer, findings from an exploratory analysis of the study were presented. The results showed that DFS was improved with adjuvant atezolizumab vs best supportive care in patients with PD-L1–positive stage II to IIIA NSCLC, as well as in all randomized patients with stage II to IIIA disease irrespective of most disease stages, nodal involvement status, surgery type, and prior chemotherapy regimens, Altorki says.

In the intention-to-treat population, the DFS improvement appeared to favor the adjuvant atezolizumab arm but did not pass the statistical significance boundary. Therefore, it is difficult to draw conclusions as to the utility of adjuvant atezolizumab in the overall patient population. However, the results indicate that adjuvant atezolizumab offers another therapeutic option to patients with a higher risk of disease recurrence, Altorki concludes.