The investigational combination of nivolumab plus chemotherapy has been found to extend the length of time that patients live without the cancer getting worse (progression-free survival, PFS) in patients with previously untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

New data from the CheckMate -227 trial demonstrated that the one-year PFS rate in patients with <1% PD-L1 expression and high TMB* (>10 mut/Mb) was more than three times higher when treated with nivolumab plus chemotherapy, compared to chemotherapy alone (27% vs. 8% [HR 0.56; 95% CI 0.35, 0.91]).

These results were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2018 Annual Meeting.

This follows the publication of previous data from this study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) which showed the one-year PFS rate in patients with <1% PD-L1 expression and high TMB (>10 mut/Mb) was 45% when treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab, compared to chemotherapy alone (8%, [HR 0.48; 95% CI 0.27, 0.85]).

Commenting on the results, Professor Christian Ottensmeier, Professor of Experimental Medicine at University of Southampton and CheckMate -227 UK trial investigator, said “[These results] are encouraging for patients with advanced lung cancer. The results add to our understanding of the importance of new predictive biomarkers such as TMB, with these data for nivolumab plus chemotherapy demonstrating that patients with high TMB may live longer without their cancer progressing. The hope is that we can now translate this research in TMB into clinical practice for the benefit of lung cancer patients and their families in the future.”

“Today’s data mark an important milestone for advanced lung cancer, an aggressive disease with a poor survival outlook,” said Faisal Mehmud, Executive Medical Director, Bristol-Myers Squibb, UK and Ireland. “These data strengthen our understanding that TMB testing may play an important role in tailoring treatment for patients, across immunotherapy plus immunotherapy and immunotherapy plus chemotherapy combinations. We look forward to advancing this science in the future and are proud to be leaders in this exciting area of precision cancer treatment.”

Source: Bristol Myers Squibb