Long term results of phase 3 randomized study evaluating the addition of low dose nivolumab to palliative chemotherapy in head and neck cancer.

Abstract

LBA6054 Background: The addition of low-dose nivolumab to metronomic chemotherapy (MC) improved 1-year overall survival in relapsed and refractory head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, sustained benefit over the long term is an important aspect of immunotherapy and it has never been studied in a prospective randomized study for low-dose nivolumab. Methods: This was an open-label randomized phase 3 superiority study. Adult patients (age= or >18 years), ECOG PS (0-1), relapsed -recurrent or newly diagnosed advanced HNSCC, and normal organ functions were eligible. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to oral metronomic chemotherapy consisting of methotrexate 9 mg/m2 weekly, celecoxib 200 mg twice daily, and erlotinib 150 mg daily, with (TMC-I) or without (TMC) with intravenous nivolumab 20 mg flat dose once-every-3-weeks. Systemic therapy was continued till the development of intolerable side effects or progression of disease. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Landmark analysis was performed to compare OS between 2 arms. Results: The median follow-up was 32.5 months (95% CI 29.6-32.7). The 1 year, 2 year and 2.5 year OS were 20% (95%CI 11.9-29.7) versus 35.5% (95%CI 25-46.2) {Hazard ratio (HR)= 0.6534, 95%CI 0.4473 -0.956: P=0.028}, 5.3% (95%CI 1.7-12.3) versus 18.4 %(95%CI 10.7-27.8) {HR= 0.6318, 95%CI 0.4476 -0.8919: P=0.009} and 5.3% (95%CI 1.7-12.3) versus 17.1 % (95%CI 9.66.-26.3) {HR= 0.6379, 95%CI 0.4524 -0.8993: P=0.01} in the TMC and the TMC-I arms respectively. The benefit of the addition of nivolumab was independent of other factors like age, gender, ECOG PS, Site of malignancy, time to failure, PDL1 score, and previous exposure to platinum (Table). Conclusions: The addition of low-dose nivolumab to triple metronomic chemotherapy leads to a tripling of OS thus suggesting that even low-dose nivolumab has sustainable benefits. The benefit observed is irrespective of known prognostic factors in HNSCC. Clinical trial information: CTRI/2020/11/028953 . [Table: see text]