Dr. Rodriguez-Abreu on the Final Analysis of the KEYNOTE-189 Trial in NSCLC

Delvys Rodriguez-Abreu, MD, medical oncologist at Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria in Gran Canaria, Spain, discusses the final analysis of the phase 3 KEYNOTE-189 study in metastatic nonsquamous non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In the phase 3 trial, patients were randomized 2:1 to receive 35 cycles of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) every 3 weeks or placebo every 3 weeks plus 4 cycles of pemetrexed and carboplatin/cisplatin followed by maintenance pembrolizumab.

Data from the final analysis of the KEYNOTE-189 study presented at the 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program demonstrated that the median overall survival (OS) in the pembrolizumab (Keytruda) arm was 22 months compared with 10.6 months in the placebo arm, says Rodriguez-Abreu. Furthermore, the 2-year OS rate in the triplet arm was 45.7% compared with 27.3% in the placebo arm.

The median progression-free survival (PFS) rate was also found to be positive with the addition of pembrolizumab. The median PFS was 9.0 months in the pembrolizumab arm compared with 4.9 months in the placebo arm. The 2-year PFS rate in the pembrolizumab and placebo arms was 22.0% versus 3.4%, respectively.

The most important finding is the benefit with pembrolizumab was observed independent of PD-L1 expression; results were positive in patients with a PD-L1 expression of less than 1% and those with PD-L1 negativity also experienced favorable outcomes, concludes Rodriguez-Abreu.

<<< 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program