Immunotherapies tap on SCLC treatment area for more options

Following PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq, Imfinzi indication expanded to treat SCLC

Major endpoints in clinical trial including OS were improved

One after another, immunotherapies are tapping into the unexplored small cell lung cancer (SCLC) treatment area.

 

According to the pharmaceutical industry sources on June 20, AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (duvalumab), following Tecentriq (atezolizumab) by Roche, has been indicated as a first-line treatment for SCLC by Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) Imfinzi’s SCLC indication was cleared in Korea for the third time in the world after the approval in Singapore and the U.S.

 

SCLC was considered to be ‘hopeless’ for new drug as there was no treatment option other than chemotherapy for last two decades.

 

The aggressive SCLC shows poor prognosis with five-year survival rate of just 6.5 percent, about a quarter of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

 

The Phase III CASPIAN study tested efficacy and safety of Imfinzi against existing standard of care in patients with SCLC from 22 countries around the world, who have not received any treatment.

 

The study confirmed statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS) in the arm receiving Imfinzi combined with etoposide and either carboplatin or cisplatin chemotherapy, compared to the control arm treated with six cycles of chemotherapy followed by optional Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation (PCI).

 

The Imfinzi combination therapy reduced the risk of death by 27 percent against the standard of care, and demonstrated median OS of 13.0 months, which was 2.7 months longer than the standard of care.

 

And other endpoints like progression free survival and objective response rate have indicated Imfinzi combination therapy shows enhanced efficacy against the standard of care.

 

As for another immunotherapy Tecentriq, the Phase III IMpower133 study confirmed Tecentriq’s meaningful efficacy by comparing 403 patients with SCLC either treated with Tecentriq combined with chemotherapy (etoposide and ecarboplatin) or the chemotherapy alone.

 

The study result found the patient group treated with Tecentriq combination therapy reached the medial OS of 12.3 months, whereas the chemotherapy alone reached 10.3 months.

 

Compared to the control group, the Tecentriq combination group had 30 percent lower risk of death.

 

Also 51.7 percent of the patients in Tecentriq combination group survived after a year, but only 38.2 percent of the chemotherapy only group survived after a year.