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Patient-reported outcomes support pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on results from the KEYNOTE-407 trial.
At week 18, patients given pembrolizumab more often reported clinically meaningful health-related quality of life improvements than those in the placebo group, according to lead author Julien Mazieres, MD, PhD, of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, and colleagues.
Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the investigators explained that these findings build upon previously published results from KEYNOTE-407, which showed that adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in the first line could extend both progression-free and overall survival among patients with NSCLC. The benefits to quality of life associated with pembrolizumab align with similar findings from the KEYNOTE-024 and KEYNOTE-189 trials, they added.
The present analysis involved 559 patients with treatment-naive metastatic NSCLC. Patients were randomized to receive 4 cycles of placebo or pembrolizumab once every 3 weeks with carboplatin-based chemotherapy, followed by pembrolizumab or placebo for an additional 31 cycles. Health-related quality of life was assessed by two measures: the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire–Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and QLQ–Lung Cancer Module 13 (QLQ-LC13).
Of the 559 patients enrolled, 554 completed at least one QLQ-C30 assessment and 553 completed at least one QLQ-LC13 assessment. These quality of life scores were compared temporally within treatment groups, from baseline to week 9 and week 18, and between groups. The investigators also analyzed median time to deterioration in chest pain, cough, and dyspnea.
Results showed that patients in the pembrolizumab group had statistically significant improvements in patient-reported outcomes over time and more frequently reported improvements than patients in the placebo group. Specifically, in the pembrolizumab group, least-squares mean score improved from baseline to week 9 (1.8) and week 18 (4.3); in comparison, least-squares mean score deteriorated in the placebo group from baseline to week 9 (–1.8) and week 18 (–0.57). Compared with placebo, treatment with pembrolizumab was associated with a least-squares mean change of 3.6 at week 9 (nominal P = .0337) and 4.9 at week 18 (nominal P = .0060). Stated differently, at week 18, compared with placebo, more patients in the pembrolizumab group reported clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life (36.2% vs. 27.7%), and relatively fewer reported deterioration (22.8% vs. 31.3%). Median time to deterioration in symptoms was not reached in either treatment arm.
“These health-related quality of life findings, along with the improved efficacy (including overall survival benefit) of pembrolizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel/nab-paclitaxel, support its use as a first-line treatment of metastatic squamous NSCLC, regardless of programmed death–ligand 1 expression,” the investigators concluded.
The study was funded by Merck. The investigators reported additional relationships with Novartis, Genentech, Pfizer, and others.
SOURCE: Mazieres J et al. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Nov 21. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.01348.
Patient-reported outcomes support pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on results from the KEYNOTE-407 trial.
At week 18, patients given pembrolizumab more often reported clinically meaningful health-related quality of life improvements than those in the placebo group, according to lead author Julien Mazieres, MD, PhD, of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, and colleagues.
Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the investigators explained that these findings build upon previously published results from KEYNOTE-407, which showed that adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in the first line could extend both progression-free and overall survival among patients with NSCLC. The benefits to quality of life associated with pembrolizumab align with similar findings from the KEYNOTE-024 and KEYNOTE-189 trials, they added.
The present analysis involved 559 patients with treatment-naive metastatic NSCLC. Patients were randomized to receive 4 cycles of placebo or pembrolizumab once every 3 weeks with carboplatin-based chemotherapy, followed by pembrolizumab or placebo for an additional 31 cycles. Health-related quality of life was assessed by two measures: the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire–Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and QLQ–Lung Cancer Module 13 (QLQ-LC13).
Of the 559 patients enrolled, 554 completed at least one QLQ-C30 assessment and 553 completed at least one QLQ-LC13 assessment. These quality of life scores were compared temporally within treatment groups, from baseline to week 9 and week 18, and between groups. The investigators also analyzed median time to deterioration in chest pain, cough, and dyspnea.
Results showed that patients in the pembrolizumab group had statistically significant improvements in patient-reported outcomes over time and more frequently reported improvements than patients in the placebo group. Specifically, in the pembrolizumab group, least-squares mean score improved from baseline to week 9 (1.8) and week 18 (4.3); in comparison, least-squares mean score deteriorated in the placebo group from baseline to week 9 (–1.8) and week 18 (–0.57). Compared with placebo, treatment with pembrolizumab was associated with a least-squares mean change of 3.6 at week 9 (nominal P = .0337) and 4.9 at week 18 (nominal P = .0060). Stated differently, at week 18, compared with placebo, more patients in the pembrolizumab group reported clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life (36.2% vs. 27.7%), and relatively fewer reported deterioration (22.8% vs. 31.3%). Median time to deterioration in symptoms was not reached in either treatment arm.
“These health-related quality of life findings, along with the improved efficacy (including overall survival benefit) of pembrolizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel/nab-paclitaxel, support its use as a first-line treatment of metastatic squamous NSCLC, regardless of programmed death–ligand 1 expression,” the investigators concluded.
The study was funded by Merck. The investigators reported additional relationships with Novartis, Genentech, Pfizer, and others.
SOURCE: Mazieres J et al. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Nov 21. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.01348.
Patient-reported outcomes support pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for first-line treatment of metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on results from the KEYNOTE-407 trial.
At week 18, patients given pembrolizumab more often reported clinically meaningful health-related quality of life improvements than those in the placebo group, according to lead author Julien Mazieres, MD, PhD, of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, and colleagues.
Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the investigators explained that these findings build upon previously published results from KEYNOTE-407, which showed that adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in the first line could extend both progression-free and overall survival among patients with NSCLC. The benefits to quality of life associated with pembrolizumab align with similar findings from the KEYNOTE-024 and KEYNOTE-189 trials, they added.
The present analysis involved 559 patients with treatment-naive metastatic NSCLC. Patients were randomized to receive 4 cycles of placebo or pembrolizumab once every 3 weeks with carboplatin-based chemotherapy, followed by pembrolizumab or placebo for an additional 31 cycles. Health-related quality of life was assessed by two measures: the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire–Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and QLQ–Lung Cancer Module 13 (QLQ-LC13).
Of the 559 patients enrolled, 554 completed at least one QLQ-C30 assessment and 553 completed at least one QLQ-LC13 assessment. These quality of life scores were compared temporally within treatment groups, from baseline to week 9 and week 18, and between groups. The investigators also analyzed median time to deterioration in chest pain, cough, and dyspnea.
Results showed that patients in the pembrolizumab group had statistically significant improvements in patient-reported outcomes over time and more frequently reported improvements than patients in the placebo group. Specifically, in the pembrolizumab group, least-squares mean score improved from baseline to week 9 (1.8) and week 18 (4.3); in comparison, least-squares mean score deteriorated in the placebo group from baseline to week 9 (–1.8) and week 18 (–0.57). Compared with placebo, treatment with pembrolizumab was associated with a least-squares mean change of 3.6 at week 9 (nominal P = .0337) and 4.9 at week 18 (nominal P = .0060). Stated differently, at week 18, compared with placebo, more patients in the pembrolizumab group reported clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life (36.2% vs. 27.7%), and relatively fewer reported deterioration (22.8% vs. 31.3%). Median time to deterioration in symptoms was not reached in either treatment arm.
“These health-related quality of life findings, along with the improved efficacy (including overall survival benefit) of pembrolizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel/nab-paclitaxel, support its use as a first-line treatment of metastatic squamous NSCLC, regardless of programmed death–ligand 1 expression,” the investigators concluded.
The study was funded by Merck. The investigators reported additional relationships with Novartis, Genentech, Pfizer, and others.
SOURCE: Mazieres J et al. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Nov 21. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.01348.
FROM THE JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY