MS 05.04 Practical Approach to Combination of Chemotherapy with IO

Abstract

Combination of chemotherapy with immune-check point inhibitor is considered to be one of the most promising strategy to improve efficacy of immune-check point inhibitors. Several clinical trials of chemotherapy with immune-check point inhibitor are conducted and the results have been reported. KEYNOTE-021 cohort G is a randomized, open-label, phase 2 cohort of a multi-cohort study assessed whether the addition of pembrolizumab to carboplatin and pemetrexed improves efficacy in patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC. Thirty-three (55%; 95% CI 42–68) of 60 patients in the pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy group achieved an objective response compared with 18 (29%; 18–41) of 63 patients in the chemotherapy alone group (p=0·0016). Progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly longer with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone (HR 0·53 [95% CI 0·31–0·91]; p=0·010). Median PFS was 13·0 months for pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy and 8·9 months for chemotherapy alone. The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to pembrolizumab for use in combination with pemetrexed plus carboplatin as a frontline treatment for patients with metastatic or advanced non-squamous NSCLC, regardless of PD-L1 expression. Antiangiogenic monoclonal antibodies, bevacizumab and ramucirumab that are currently approved for use in the treatment of NSCLC. Bevacizumab, in addition to platinum-based chemotherapy is widely used for the first-line treatment of advanced, metastatic, or recurrent NSCLC, excluding squamous cell carcinoma. VEGF influences lymphocyte trafficking across endothelia to the tumor by inhibiting lymphocyte adhesion and VEGF has a systemic effect on immune-regulatory cell function through multiple mechanisms, such as Tregulatory cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs); suppression of dendritic cell maturation; and inhibition of T-cell development from hematopoietic progenitor cells. Thus, combination of antiangiogenic monoclonal antibody and immune-check point inhibitor is potentially synergistic. National Cancer Center Hospital conducted a single-center phase Ib study investigated the tolerability, safety, and pharmacokinetics of nivolumab combined with standard chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC. In this trial, nivolumab with gemcitabine/cisplatin, pemetrexed/cisplatin, paclitaxel/carboplatin/bevacizumab, or docetaxel were evaluated for six patients each arm. Combination of nivolumab and chemotherapy showed an acceptable toxicity profile and encouraging antitumor activity in patients with advanced NSCLC. Although small number of patients, nivolumab with paclitaxel/carboplatin/bevacizumab seems to be most promising with higher response rate and longer PFS. Based on these data, phase III study of paclitaxel/carboplatin/bevacizumab with/without nivolumab for advanced non-squamous NSCLC is ongoing. antiangiogenic monoclonal antibody, chemotherapy, immune-check point inhibitor