This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
PD-L1 inhibitor demonstrated activity in smokers with NSCLC
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients with squamous or nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer who are current or former smokers responded to treatment with the novel PD-L1 inhibitor MPDL3280A, according to study findings presented at the European Cancer Congress.
“The fact that smokers seemed to respond better is great news for lung cancer patients, because the majority of them are former or current smokers,” researcher Jean-Charles Soria, MD, PhD, director of the Site de Recherche Intégrée sur le Cancer Socrate project at the Institut Gustave Roussy in France, said in a press release. “Most advances in lung cancer over the last five years have mainly focused in never or light smokers. While the data are preliminary, the trend is potentially promising.”
MPDL3280A (Roche) is a human monoclonal antibody designed to improve tumor-specific T-cell immunity, according to background information in the study.
Soria and colleagues assigned 53 patients with NSCLC to variety of doses of MPDL3280A administered every 3 weeks by IV infusion. The majority of patients received doses of 10 mg/kg (n=10), 15 mg/kg (n=19) or 20 mg/kg (n=22).
Treatment lasted a median of 106 days (range, 1-450).
Response data were available from 37 patients, 84% of whom were current or former smokers.
Researchers reported a 24% objective response rate. The median time to first response was 11.9 weeks, and response durations ranged from about 1 day to more than 214 days.
The response rate was higher in patients who smoked (26% vs. 10%).
The overall rate of 24-week PFS was 46%.
Results of a biomarker analysis indicated that 100% of patients with PD-L1–positive tumors (n=4) demonstrated response compared with 15% of patients with PD-L1-negative tumors (n=26).
Researchers also measured response based on an immunohistochemistry (IHC) scoring system for PD-L1, using a scale of 0 to 3. The response rate was 83% among patients with an IHC score of 3, Soria and colleagues said.
Grade 3 or grade 4 adverse events occurred in 34% of the study population. Pericardial effusion (6%), dehydration (4%), dyspnea (4%) and fatigue (4%) were the most common adverse events. No incidences of grade ≥3 pneumonitis or diarrhea occurred, researchers said.
“The study defines a novel approach to identifying the patients most likely to respond to treatment and identifies potential association between smoking and responses to MPDL3280A,” Soria said. “A new therapy, with few serious adverse side effects, that is easy to use — one intravenous infusion every three weeks — and a robust clinical activity as a single agent should soon be available.”
For more information:
Soria JC. Abstract #3408. Presented at: The European Cancer Congress 2013; Sept. 27-Oct. 2, 2013; Amsterdam.
Disclosure: Researchers report advisory board or other roles with and research funding from Roche and Genentech.
Perspective
Back to Top
Cornelis van de Velde, MD, PhD
This is an extremely important study for patients with non–small cell lung cancer for whom there are few treatment options that make much impact on their disease. Hundreds of millions of Euros have been spent chasing the dream of immunotherapy for lung cancer patients, but with zero results. These early findings on the effect of the anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, MPDL3280A, suggest that it has the potential to open new therapeutic approaches, particularly for smokers and former smokers.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts