Study: Adjuvant nivolumab reduces risk of death, lung cancer recurrence

Editor's Note

An analysis of two phase-III trials showed adjuvant administration of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus chemotherapy reduces the risk of recurrence or death in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by 40% compared to neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy alone, Medpage Today reported September 9.

"With the caveat that this is an exploratory analysis, these results may help inform the potential benefit and our clinical decisions day-to-day when we see patients in the clinic after receiving neoadjuvant therapy and surgery for resectable lung cancer," Patrick Forde, MD, of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, announced during a presentation of the findings at the World Conference on Lung Cancer.

According to the article, the analysis compared event-free survival (EFS) from two trials: CheckMate 77T, where patients received adjuvant nivolumab, and CheckMate 816, where patients did not. CheckMate 816 demonstrated significant improvements in EFS with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy. CheckMate 77T built on this treatment regimen by demonstrating clinically meaningful improvements in EFS with perioperative nivolumab versus placebo.

The current study compared event-free survival (EFS) from the time of surgery among patients in the CheckMate 77T trial, who received neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy followed by definitive surgery and at least one dose of adjuvant nivolumab, with patients in CheckMate 816, who also received neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy followed by definitive surgery but without adjuvant nivolumab. Further analysis revealed the  benefit extended across various tumor stages and in patients regardless of PD-L1 expression, with greater improvements in those with PD-L1-negative tumors (although researchers emphasized the need for further follow-up in this group).