Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2020 Oct;9(19):6923-6932.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.3120. Epub 2020 May 15.

Duration of nivolumab for pretreated, advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

Margaux Geier  1 , Renaud Descourt  1 , Romain Corre  2 , Guillaume Léveiller  3 , Régine Lamy  4 , Éric Goarant  5 , Jean-Louis Bizec  6 , Cyril Bernier  7 , Gilles Quéré  8 , Karim Amrane  1 , Elisabeth Gaye  1 , François Lucia  1 , Emilie Burte  9 , Christos Chouaid  10 , Gilles Robinet  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Duration of nivolumab for pretreated, advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

Margaux Geier et al. Cancer Med. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Background: A standard of care for pretreated, advanced non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), nivolumab has demonstrated long-term benefit when administered for 2 years. We aimed to better discern an optimized administration duration by retrospectively analyzing real-life long-term efficacy in a prospective cohort.

Methods: All nivolumab-treated adults with advanced NSCLCs (01/09/2015 to 30/09/2016) from nine French centers were eligible. On 31/12/2018, patients who are alive ≥ 2 years after starting nivolumab were defined as long-term survivors (LTSs) and were divided into three nivolumab treatment groups: <2, 2, or > 2 years. Co-primary endpoints were LTSs' progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

Results: The median follow-up was 32 months (95% CI, 31.0 to 34.0). The 3-year OS rate for the 259 cohort patients was 16.6%. Among them, 65 were LTSs: 47 treated < 2 years, 7 for 2 years, and 11 > 2 years. Their respective characteristics were: median age: 59, 52, and 58 years; smoking history: 92.9, 100, and 100%; adenocarcinomas: 66, 57.1, and 54.5%. LTSs' median (m)PFS was 28.4 months; mOS was not reached. LTSs' objective response rate was 61.6%. mOS was 32.7 months for those treated < 2 years and not reached for the others. The > 2-year group's 3-year OS was longer. Twenty-eight LTSs experienced no disease progression; 7 had durable complete responses. However, LTSs had more frequent and more severe adverse events.

Conclusion: In real-life, prolonged nivolumab use provided long-term benefit with 16.6% 3-year OS and 25% LTSs. Survival tended to be prolonged with nivolumab continued beyond 2 years. Prospective randomized trials with adequate design are needed.

Keywords: immunotherapy; long-term survivors; nivolumab; non-small-cell lung cancer; real-life; treatment duration.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have stated that they have no conflicts of interest.

The authors confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan‐Meier estimates of the probability of (A) progression‐free survival and (B) overall survival for the 65 long‐term survivors
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan‐Meier estimates of the probability of (A) progression‐free survival and (B) overall survival for the 65 long‐term survivors according to nivolumab treatment duration
Figure 3
Figure 3
Kaplan‐Meier estimates of the probability of overall survival among long‐term survivors with progression‐free survival ≥ 12 mo, according to nivolumab administration duration
Figure 4
Figure 4
Kaplan‐Meier estimates of the probability of overall survival for the 65 long‐term survivors according to any‐grade adverse event occurrence
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brahmer J, Reckamp KL, Baas P, et al. Nivolumab versus docetaxel in advanced squamous‐cell non–small‐cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(2):123‐135. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Borghaei H, Paz‐Ares L, Horn L, et al. Nivolumab versus docetaxel in advanced nonsquamous non–small‐cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(17):1627‐1639. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Herbst RS, Baas P, Kim D‐W, et al. Pembrolizumab versus docetaxel for previously treated, PD‐L1‐positive, advanced non‐small‐cell lung cancer (KEYNOTE‐010): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2016;387(10027):1540‐1550. - PubMed
    1. Rittmeyer A, Barlesi F, Waterkamp D, et al. Atezolizumab versus docetaxel in patients with previously treated non‐small‐cell lung cancer (OAK): a phase 3, open‐label, multicentre randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2017;389(10066):255‐265. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reck M, Rodríguez‐Abreu D, Robinson AG, et al. Pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy for PD‐L1–positive non–small‐cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2016;375:1823‐1833. 10.1056/NEJMoa1606774. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms