Tecentriq Doubles 2-Year Survival Rate in Certain Patients With NSCLC

Tecentriq (atezolizumab) nearly doubled the two-year survival rate while maintaining quality of life in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were ineligible for treatment with a platinum-containing regimen, recent findings suggest.

“These data support (Tecentriq) monotherapy as a potential first-line treatment option for patients with advanced NSCLC who are ineligible for platinum-based chemotherapy,” the researchers wrote in the study published in The Lancet.

According to the study’s introduction, advancements have been made in the use of immunotherapy for patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC, but data primarily focused on patients with little to no restrictions on activities of daily living (so considered fully active or unable to do strenuous activities) and in those 65 years or younger.

In the phase 3 IPSOS study, researchers compared first-line therapy (first treatment given as part of a set of treatments) with Tecentriq versus single-agent chemotherapy in 453 patients with stage 3B or 4 NSCLC who met one of two criteria:

• Unsuitable for platinum-based chemotherapy regimens due to the inability to work (but able to walk and manage self-care) or being confined to a chair or bed for more than 50% of the day.
• Aged 70 years or older, considered fully active or unable to perform strenuous activities and having symptoms or a medical condition that may preclude them from platinum-based chemotherapy.

Patients were randomly assigned either Tecentriq (302 patients) or chemotherapy (151 patients) with vinorelbine or gemcitabine. Of note, patients assigned Tecentriq underwent treatment every three weeks, whereas those assigned chemotherapy received treatment at three-weekly or four-weekly cycles.

The primary focus of this study was overall survival, defined as the time from treatment assignment to all-cause death, according to the study’s listing on ClinicalTrials.gov. Researchers also monitored patients for any side effects related to treatment.

Patients assigned Tecentriq had a median overall survival of 10.3 months compared with 9.2 months in those assigned chemotherapy. The two-year survival rate for the Tecentriq group was 24% versus 12% in the chemotherapy group.

Tecentriq also either stabilized or improved symptoms and health-related quality-of-life measures compared with chemotherapy.

There were fewer severe or worse side effects related to treatment with Tecentriq versus chemotherapy (16% versus 33%), in addition to fewer treatment-related deaths (1% versus 3%).

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