Immuno-oncology drugs demonstrate additional benefit at ASCO

in refractory solid tumors

Imfinzi reduces the risk of death by 27% vs placebo in small cell lung cancer

Opdivo+Yervoy improves survival as a first-line treatment for liver cancer.

Global pharmaceutical companies have demonstrated their immuno-oncology drugs’ effect in refractory solid tumors.

 

Clinical results from major immuno-oncology drugs, including Imfinzi, Opdivo, and Yervoy, were presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, which kicked off last month in Chicago, U.S.

 

In the case of Imfinzi, the trial confirmed a survival benefit in small cell lung cancer.

 

Imfinzi has shown promise in gastrointestinal cancers, including biliary tract and liver cancer.

 

Such results paved the way for the company to add new indications.

 

The combination of Opdivo and Yervoy improved survival in the first-line treatment of liver cancer.

 

The combination has demonstrated efficacy against Nexavar and Lenvima in the first-line treatment of liver cancer, setting the stage for new competition.

 

Imfinzi improves OS, PFS in small-cell lung cancer AstraZeneca's Imfinzi showed efficacy in small-cell lung cancer, an area with a high unmet need.

 

The Phase III ADRIATIC trial evaluated the efficacy of Imfinzi monotherapy and the Imfinzi+Imjudo combination versus placebo in 730 patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer whose disease had not progressed after concurrent chemoradiation therapy (cCRT).

 

ADRIATIC study design, which evaluated the efficacy of immuno-oncology drug Imfinzi (Source: ASCO 2024 lecture capture).

Patients were randomized to receive a fixed dose of 1,500 mg of Imfinzi every 4 weeks alone or in combination with 75 mg of Imjudo, followed by Imfinzi every 4 weeks for up to 24 months.

 

The primary endpoints were Imfinzi monotherapy’s progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) vs placebo.

 

Results showed that Imfinzi monotherapy reduced the risk of death by 27% compared with placebo.

 

Median estimated OS was 55.9 months in the Imfinzi arm compared with 33.4 months in the placebo arm.

 

Approximately 57% of patients in the Imfinzi arm were alive at 3 years, compared with 48% in the placebo arm, and Imfinzi therapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 24% compared with placebo.

 

Median progression-free survival (mPFS) at 2 years was 16.6 months in the Imfinzi arm and 9.2 months in the placebo arm, with 46% of patients in the Imfinzi arm experiencing no disease progression at 2 years compared with 34% in the placebo arm.

 

In addition to the small number of patients, small-cell lung cancer has a significantly lower number of treatments available than other cancers.

 

According to a fact sheet published by the Korean Association for Lung Cancer (KALC) and the Korean Central Cancer Registry (KCCR) based on 2015 data, only about 13% of all lung cancer patients (2,658) were diagnosed with small cell lung cancer.

 

As the first immuno-oncology drug to demonstrate efficacy in limited-stage small-cell lung cancer, whether Imfinzi can rise to become a new treatment option in the field is gaining attention.

 

Opdivo+Yervoy improves survival as first-line treatment in liver cancer BMS announced results from the Phase III CheckMate-9DW trial, which evaluated the efficacy of the combination of Opdivo, a PD-1-targeted immuno-oncology drug, in combination with Yervoy, a CTLA-4-targeted immuno-oncology drug.

 

Opdivo and Yervoy demonstrated an effect as first-line treatment in liver cancer (Source: ASCO 2024 lecture capture.

BMS is exploring the possibility of securing multiple indications with the Yervoy plus Opdivo combination.

 

The company is currently exploring the potential of the combination in liver cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, and head and neck cancer.

 

The results presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting are from an interim analysis of the trial that evaluated the efficacy and safety of the combination as a first-line treatment for liver cancer.

 

The trial enrolled 668 treatment-naive adults with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who were randomized to receive the Opdivo+Yovoy combination and either Lenvima or Nexavar.

 

Results showed a median OS of 23.7 months in the Opdivo+Yervoy combination arm, compared with the 20.6 months in the control arm.

 

The objective response rate (ORR) was 36% with the Opdivo+Yervoy compared with 13% in the control arm.

 

The median duration of response was 30.4 months for the Opdivo+Yovoy combination arm compared with 12.9 months for the control arm.

 

These results lay the foundation for the Opdivo+Yovoy combination to become a significant competitor in the first-line liver cancer treatment market.

 

Currently, the combinations Tecentriq (immuno-oncology drug) plus Avastin (targeted therapy) by Roche and Imfinzi (immuno-oncology drug)+Imjudo (targeted therapy) by AstraZeneca are available as first-line treatment for liver cancer.

 

In the field, HLB's targeted anti-cancer drug rivoceranib in combination with Hangseo Pharmaceutical's immuno-oncology drug camrelizumab has also recently presented data showing improved survival.