Benjamin Cooper, MD, director of Proton Therapy services at NYU Langone Health, shares key findings from early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) trials presented at the 2021 ESMO Congress.
Dr Cooper begins with the LungART trial, which evaluated whether postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) would benefit patients with completely resected NSCLC and mediastinal N2 involvement. Use of PORT reduced the risk of mediastinal relapse but did not show significant impact on disease-free survival (DFS).
Next, he turns to findings from the COAST trial, which compared durvalumab monotherapy, durvalumab plus oleclumab, and durvalumab plus monalizumab in patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage III NSCLC. Both combination regimens increased the objective response rate and significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) vs durvalumab alone.
Dr Cooper also reviews sites of disease relapse and post-relapse treatment from IMpower010, which evaluated atezolizumab versus best supportive care after adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with resected stage IB-IIIA NSCLC. Similar patterns of relapse were seen across study arms, but patients with PD-L1 levels of 50% or higher experienced greatest DFS benefits.
Lastly, Dr Cooper highlights GEMSTONE-301, which tested the novel anti-PD-L1 drug sugemalimab in patients with unresectable, stage III NSCLC who did not progress after concurrent or sequential radiotherapy. There was a statistically significant and clinically meaningful PFS improvement in patients receiving sugemalimab compared to placebo.
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Benjamin Cooper, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Director, Proton Therapy Services, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York
Benjamin Cooper, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: AstraZeneca.