FIRST-LINE TREATMENT WITH NIVOLUMAB PLUS IPILIMUMAB AND TWO CYCLES OF CHEMOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER FROM CHECKMATE 9LA: 4-YEAR UPDATE

Abstract

The combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab with two cycles of chemotherapy is the first dual immunotherapybased treatment option approved for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have no sensitizing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation in the European Union. This regimen was approved based on the results of the randomized phase 3 CheckMate 9LA study. With a 4-year minimum follow-up, patients treated with nivolumab together with ipilimumab and two chemotherapy cycles continued to derive long-term, durable overall survival benefit vs chemotherapy alone regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression or histology. Exploratory analyses suggested an overall survival benefit within both acinar and solid tumor histologic subtypes during treatment with dual immunotherapy and chemotherapy. No new safety signals were reported across tumor histologic subtypes. The combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab with two cycles of chemotherapy is the efficacious first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic NSCLC, particularly for those with tumor PD-L1 < 1% or squamous cell histology.