Longer-term follow-up of a phase 2 study (CheckMate 063) of nivolumab in patients with advanced refractory squamous (SQ) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (#200)
Aim: To report the efficacy, safety, and biomarker analyses of patients with SQ NSCLC treated with nivolumab after progression during/after prior platinum-based doublet chemotherapy and ≥1 additional systemic regimen.
Methods: Patients (N=117) receivednivolumab 3 mg/kg Q2W until progressive disease (PD)/unacceptable toxicity; treatment beyond PD was permitted. The primary endpoint was independent radiology review committee (IRC)-assessed overall response rate (ORR) (per RECIST v1.1). Additional objectives included investigator-assessed ORR, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), safety, ORR by patient subgroups, efficacy by tumor programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression (PD-L1+: ≥5%), and blood-based biomarker analyses.
Results: After ≥11 months of follow-up, IRC-assessed ORR was 15% (95% CI: 9, 22). Median duration of response was not reached (range, 2+–12+ months); 76% (13/17) had ongoing responses. Objective responses were observed regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression.One-year OS was 41% (95% CI: 32, 50) and median OS was 8.2 months (95% CI: 6.1, 10.9). One-year PFS was 20% (95% CI: 13, 29);median PFS was 1.9 months (95% CI: 1.8, 3.2). Of 22 patients treated beyond PD, 4 demonstrated non-conventional benefits (ie,persistent reduction in target lesions in the presence of new lesions, regression following initial progression, or ≥2 tumor assessments with no further progression); OS for these patientswas 6.6, 11.6+, 12.9+, and 13.5+ months. Peripheral increases in serum interferon-γ-stimulated cytokines, including CXCL9 andCXCL10, were observed. Preliminary microRNA analyses identified altered gene expression following nivolumab treatment; 17% ofpatients experienced grade 3–4 treatment-related adverse events (fatigue 4%, diarrhea 3%, and pneumonitis 3%). Pneumonitis was manageable with corticosteroids; median time to resolution was 3.4 weeks (range, 0.7–13.4). Two treatment-related deaths (hypoxic pneumonia, ischemic stroke) occurred in patients with multiple comorbidities and concurrent PD.
Conclusions: Nivolumab demonstrated clinically meaningful efficacy and an acceptable safety profile in patients with advanced, refractory SQ NSCLC.