CheckMate 171: A phase 2 trial of nivolumab in patients with previously treated advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer, including ECOG PS 2 and elderly populations.

BACKGROUND

CheckMate 171 (NCT02409368) is an open-label, multicentre, phase 2 trial of nivolumab in previously treated advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), conducted as part of a post-approval commitment to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). We report outcomes from this trial.

METHODS

Patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0-2 and disease progression during/after ≥1 systemic treatment (≥1 being platinum-based chemotherapy) for advanced or metastatic disease were treated with nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks until progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end-point was incidence of grade 3-4 treatment-related select adverse events (AEs). Other end-points included overall survival (OS) and safety.

RESULTS

Of 811 patients treated, 103 had ECOG PS 2; 278 were aged ≥70 years and 125 were ≥75 years of age. Minimum follow-up was ~18 months. Safety was similar across populations; the most frequent grade 3-4 treatment-related select AEs in all treated patients were diarrhoea (1%), increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT, 1%), pneumonitis (0.7%), colitis (0.6%) and increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST, 0.5%). Median OS was similar in all treated patients and those aged ≥70 and ≥75: 10.0 months, 10.0 months and 11.2 months, respectively. Median OS was 5.2 months in patients with ECOG PS 2.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that nivolumab is well tolerated and active in patients with advanced, relapsed squamous NSCLC, including the elderly, with OS outcomes consistent with phase 3 data. In patients with ECOG PS 2, nivolumab had similar tolerability, but outcomes were worse, as expected in this difficult-to-treat, poor prognosis population.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT02409368.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflict of interest statement E.F. reports receiving personal fees from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Blueprint medicines, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Guardant Health, Janssen, Medscape, Merck KGaA, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, priME Oncology, Roche, Samsung, Springer, Takeda, and Touchtime, outside the submitted work. A.A. reports receiving personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, MSD, and Pfizer, grants from Celgene, and grants and personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche, outside the submitted work. T.C. reports receiving personal fees from Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ipsen, Janssen, MSD, Novartis/GSK, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and Servier, outside the submitted work. M.C., K.L., M.S., E.C., M.A.G., D.I., and J.M. have nothing to disclose. R.C. reports receiving grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb during the conduct of the study, and personal fees from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Oncology, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Takeda, outside the submitted work. R.G. reports receiving personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. L. P-A. reports receiving personal fees from Amgen, Bayer, Blueprint, Eli Lilly, Incyte, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Roche, and Takeda, and grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. R.D. reports receiving travel grants from Amgen and Roche, receiving travel grants and holding advisory position for Pfizer, and acting in an advisory role for Ely Lilly and Novartis, outside the submitted work. J.J. reports receiving personal fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, and Takeda, and receiving travel support from Roche, outside the submitted work. W.A. reports receiving non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim and Bristol-Myers Squibb, personal fees from AstraZeneca and Pfizer, personal fees and non-financial support from Amgen and Roche, outside the submitted work. J.P.V.M. reports receiving travel support from Bristol-Myers Squibb and institutional grants from Pfizer, outside the submitted work. J.W. reports receiving personal fees from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Blueprint, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, Eli Lilly, Ignyta, Loxo, Roche, and Takeda, and grants and personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, and Pfizer, outside the submitted work. A.L. and A.A. were employees of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the conduct of the study and A.A. has received company stock from Bristol-Myers Squibb. S.P. reports receiving personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb during the conduct of the study; personal fees from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Elsevier, EMD Serono, Guardant Health, Medscape, MSD, Novartis, OncLive, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, and Tesaro, outside the submitted work.