Efficacy and safety of necitumumab and pembrolizumab combination therapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with ≥50% PD-L1 expression: A nonrandomized phase II trial.

Abstract

This study investigated the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab and necitumumab as first-line therapy for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had ≥50% programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. This nonrandomized, multicenter, open-label, single-arm phase II trial included patients with previously untreated advanced NSCLC who had a PD-L1 tumor proportion score of ≥50%. Patients received pembrolizumab and necitumumab every 3 weeks for up to 35 cycles. The primary endpoint was the investigator-assessed objective response rate (ORR). The secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. The sample comprised 50 patients (38 men, 12 women; median age: 72 years, range: 51-90 years). The ORR was 76.0% (95% confidence intervals: 61.9-86.9; P < 0.0001), with complete and partial response rates of 2.0% and 74.0%, respectively. Moreover, 10.0% and 8.0% of the patients had stable and progressive disease, respectively, whereas 6.0% could not be evaluated. The median PFS was 15.7 months, whereas the median OS was not reached at the time of analysis. The most common treatment-related adverse events were rash (64.0%) and hypomagnesemia (60.0%). Grade 3 interstitial lung disease occurred in five patients (10.0%), and grade 5 cardiac arrest occurred in one patient (2.0%). The pembrolizumab and necitumumab combination exhibited a promising ORR of 76.0% with a manageable safety profile in patients with NSCLC who had high PD-L1 expression. These findings highlight the need for further research on this regimen for patients with advanced NSCLC who have high PD-L1 expression.