The addition of durvalumab to chemotherapy improved overall survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) (Abstract PL02.11). The research was presented by Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, of Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, H120-CNIO Lung Cancer Unit, Universidad Complutense and Ciberonc.
Extensive-stage SCLC is defined as the stage during which the cancer has metastasized to other parts of the body, such as the liver or brain. Average survival time after diagnosis is 10 months.
“The addition of durvalumab to EP as first-line treatment for extensive-stage SCLC significantly improved overall survival (27% reduction in risk of death) vs a robust control arm that permitted up to six cycles of etoposide. Of note, this chemoimmunotherapy regimen offers flexibility in platinum choice (carboplatin or cisplatin), reflecting current clinical practice for this challenging disease.”— Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD
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CASPIAN Methods
In the CASPIAN trial, 537 previously untreated patients with extensive-stage SCLC were randomly assigned to receive either durvalumab plus four courses of etoposide/platinum (EP) chemotherapy, durvalumab plus tremelimumab plus EP for four cycles, or up to six cycles of EP alone. Data presented at the WCLC focused on the durvalumab arm as compared to the control treatment.
Results
Dr. Paz-Ares and his team found that patients in the durvalumab arm achieved a median overall survival of 13 months vs 10.3 months for the EP control group, and 33.9% of patients who received durvalumab were alive at 18 months as compared to 24.7% in the control arm of the trial.
“The addition of durvalumab to EP as first-line treatment for extensive-stage SCLC significantly improved overall survival (27% reduction in risk of death) vs a robust control arm that permitted up to six cycles of etoposide. Of note, this chemoimmunotherapy regimen offers flexibility in platinum choice (carboplatin or cisplatin), reflecting current clinical practice for this challenging disease,” concluded Dr. Paz-Ares.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit wclc2019.iaslc.org.
