Dr. Patel on Key Updates from First-Line Trials in NSCLC

Manish Patel, DO, hematologist, oncologist, associate professor of medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, discusses updates in treatment with a PD1 and CTLA-4 inhibitor in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

The phase 3 EMPOWER-Lung 3 trial (NCT03409614), studying cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) with chemotherapy, produced positive data similar to the phase 3 KEYNOTE-189 trial (NCT02578680), which evaluated pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus chemotherapy, Patel explains. Notably, EMPOWER-Lung 3 demonstrated a particular benefit in patients with squamous cell NSCLC, Patel adds.

Additionally, data from the phase 3 POSEIDON trial (NCT03164616) supported the FDA approval of durvalumab (Imfinzi) and tremelimumab-actl (Imjudo) with platinum-based chemotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic NSCLC without sensitizing EGFR mutations or ALKaberrations, Patel continues. POSEIDON was another example of a trial showing the benefit of treating patients with chemotherapy in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor and CTLA-4 inhibitor, Patel concludes.