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First-line Keytruda plus chemotherapy improves OS, PFS in non-small cell lung cancer
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The addition of pembrolizumab to pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin improved OS and PFS as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer, according to a manufacturer-issued press release.
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) — an anti-PD-1 therapy — is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, in addition to the treatment of other cancer types.
In the phase 3 KEYNOTE-189 trial — which included 614 patients with advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer, regardless of PD-L1 expression, who had no EGFR or ALK mutations and had not previously received systemic therapy for advanced disease — pembrolizumab in combination with pemetrexed (Altima, Eli Lilly) and platinum chemotherapy met its dual primary endpoints of OS and PFS compared with chemotherapy alone. Results from the study will be presented at an upcoming meeting and submitted to regulatory authorities.
The safety profile appeared consistent with previous observations.
“KEYNOTE-189 showed significant improvement in [OS] and [PFS] for patients receiving Keytruda in the first-line setting in combination with traditional chemotherapy, compared with those receiving chemotherapy alone,” Roger M. Perlmutter, MD, PhD, president of Merck Research Laboratories, said in the release. “We are deeply grateful to the KEYNOTE-189 patients and investigators for their important contributions to this landmark study, and we look forward to presenting the data in the near future.”