Dr. Reck on the Rationale of the IMpower150 Trial in NSCLC

Martin Reck, MD, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Lung Clinic Grosshansdorf, discusses the IMpower150 trial data for patients with non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The IMpower150 trial was the first investigation on the combination of chemotherapy, antiangiogenic treatment, and immunotherapy, says Reck in an interview during the 2018 European Lung Cancer Congress, which is a joint collaboration between ESMO and the IASLC. There is good evidence to suggest that there is a synergistic mechanism between antiangiogenic treatment, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.

Previous data demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq), bevacizumab (Avastin), carboplatin, and paclitaxel delayed progression or death by 38% compared with bevacizumab and chemotherapy alone for patients with nonsquamous NSCLC.

This is a very intensive treatment, Reck explains. Patients are receiving chemotherapy, bevacizumab, and immunotherapy, so one needs to be aware of the adverse events associated with this combination. Therefore, patients must be selected carefully for this treatment but overall the tolerability was as expected, explains Reck.