Tecemotide (L-BLP25) versus placebo after chemoradiotherapy for stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (START): a randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial.

Effective maintenance therapies after chemoradiotherapy for lung cancer are lacking. Our aim was to investigate whether the MUC1 antigen-specific cancer immunotherapy tecemotide improves survival in patients with stage III unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer when given as maintenance therapy after chemoradiation. The phase 3 START trial was an international, randomised, double-blind trial that recruited patients with unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer who had completed chemoradiotherapy within the 4-12 week window before randomisation and received confirmation of stable disease or objective response. Patients were stratified by stage (IIIA vs IIIB), response to chemoradiotherapy (stable disease vs objective response), delivery of chemoradiotherapy (concurrent vs sequential), and region using block randomisation, and were randomly assigned (2:1, double-blind) by a central interactive voice randomisation system to either tecemotide or placebo. Injections of tecemotide (806 μg lipopeptide) or placebo were given every week for 8 weeks, and then every 6 weeks until disease progression or withdrawal. Cyclophosphamide 300 mg/m(2) (before tecemotide) or saline (before placebo) was given once before the first study drug administration. The primary endpoint was overall survival in a modified intention-to-treat population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00409188. From Feb 22, 2007, to Nov 15, 2011, 1513 patients were randomly assigned (1006 to tecemotide and 507 to placebo). 274 patients were excluded from the primary analysis population as a result of a clinical hold, resulting in analysis of 829 patients in the tecemotide group and 410 in the placebo group in the modified intention-to-treat population. Median overall survival was 25.6 months (95% CI 22.5-29.2) with tecemotide versus 22.3 months (19.6-25.5) with placebo (adjusted HR 0.88, 0.75-1.03; p=0.123). In the patients who received previous concurrent chemoradiotherapy, median overall survival for the 538 (65%) of 829 patients assigned to tecemotide was 30.8 months (95% CI 25.6-36.8) compared with 20.6 months (17.4-23.9) for the 268 (65%) of 410 patients assigned to placebo (adjusted HR 0.78, 0.64-0.95; p=0.016). In patients who received previous sequential chemoradiotherapy, overall survival did not differ between the 291 (35%) patients in the tecemotide group and the 142 (35%) patients in the placebo group (19.4 months [95% CI 17.6-23.1] vs 24.6 months [18.8-33.0], respectively; adjusted HR 1.12, 0.87-1.44; p=0.38). Grade 3-4 adverse events seen with a greater than 2% frequency with tecemotide were dyspnoea (49 [5%] of 1024 patients in the tecemotide group vs 21 [4%] of 477 patients in the placebo group), metastases to central nervous system (29 [3%] vs 6 [1%]), and pneumonia (23 [2%] vs 12 [3%]). Serious adverse events with a greater than 2% frequency with tecemotide were pneumonia (30 [3%] in the tecemotide group vs 14 [3%] in the placebo group), dyspnoea (29 [3%] vs 13 [3%]), and metastases to central nervous system (32 [3%] vs 9 [2%]). Serious immune-related adverse events did not differ between groups. We found no significant difference in overall survival with the administration of tecemotide after chemoradiotherapy compared with placebo for all patients with unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer. However, tecemotide might have a role for patients who initially receive concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and further study in this population is warranted. Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany).

Butts C ，Socinski MA ，Mitchell PL ，Thatcher N ，Havel L ，Krzakowski M ，Nawrocki S ，Ciuleanu TE ，Bosquée L ，Trigo JM ，Spira A ，Tremblay L ，Nyman J ，Ramlau R ，Wickart-Johansson G ，Ellis P ，Gladkov O ，Pereira JR ，Eberhardt WE ，Helwig C ，Schröder A ，Shepherd FA ，START trial team ... -  《-》

Phase I/II study of tecemotide as immunotherapy in Japanese patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Unresectable stage III NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) confers a poor prognosis and interest is growing in the use of immunotherapy to improve outcomes for patients with this disease. We investigated the safety and efficacy of maintenance tecemotide, a mucin 1 (MUC1)-specific agent that induces T-cell responses to MUC1, versus placebo in Japanese patients with stage III unresectable NSCLC and no disease progression after primary chemoradiotherapy. Patients aged ≥20 years with unresectable stage III NSCLC, stable disease or clinical response after primary chemoradiotherapy and performance status ≤1, were recruited across 25 centers in Japan. Patients were randomized 2:1 to tecemotide (930μg as lipopeptide) or placebo subcutaneously once weekly for 8 weeks, then every 6 weeks until disease progression or treatment withdrawal. Cyclophosphamide 300mg/m2 (maximum dose 600mg) was given intravenously 3days before the first dose of tecemotide. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival, time to progression, time to treatment failure and safety. The intent-to-treat population comprised 172 patients; 114 received tecemotide and 58 placebo. Baseline characteristics were comparable between treatment arms. Most patients (94%) received primary concurrent chemoradiotherapy. There was no apparent trend toward increased OS time with tecemotide over placebo (median 32.4 versus 32.2 months, hazard ratio 0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.61-1.48; P=0.83). No improvements in secondary efficacy endpoints were observed. The frequency of treatment-related adverse events was similar, and serious adverse event rates were the same in both arms. There were no new safety signals. These results do not support those from a randomized phase III study (START) of improved OS with tecemotide in the subgroup of patients treated with primary concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Katakami N ，Hida T ，Nokihara H ，Imamura F ，Sakai H ，Atagi S ，Nishio M ，Kashii T ，Satouchi M ，Helwig C ，Watanabe M ，Tamura T ... -  《-》

Maintenance therapy with pemetrexed plus best supportive care versus placebo plus best supportive care after induction therapy with pemetrexed plus cisplatin for advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (PARAMOUNT): a double-blind, phase 3, random

Patients with advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) benefit from pemetrexed maintenance therapy after induction therapy with a platinum-containing, non-pemetrexed doublet. The PARAMOUNT trial investigated whether continuation maintenance with pemetrexed improved progression-free survival after induction therapy with pemetrexed plus cisplatin. In this double-blind, multicentre, phase 3, randomised placebo-controlled trial, patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC aged 18 years or older, with no previous systemic chemotherapy for lung cancer, with at least one measurable lesion, and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 participated. Before randomisation, patients entered an induction phase which consisted of four cycles of induction pemetrexed (500 mg/m(2)) plus cisplatin (75 mg/m(2)) on day 1 of a 21-day cycle. Patients who did not progress after completion of four cycles of induction and who had an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1 were stratified according to disease stage (IIIB or IV), ECOG performance status (0 or 1), and induction response (complete or partial response, or stable disease), and randomly assigned (2:1 ratio) to receive maintenance therapy with either pemetrexed (500 mg/m(2) every 21 days) plus best supportive care or placebo plus best supportive care until disease progression. Randomisation was done with the Pocock and Simon minimisation method. Patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival in the intention-to-treat population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00789373. Of the 1022 patients enrolled, 939 participated in the induction phase. Of these, 539 patients were randomly assigned to receive continuation maintenance with pemetrexed plus best supportive care (n=359) or with placebo plus best supportive care (n=180). Among the 359 patients randomised to continuation maintenance with pemetrexed, there was a significant reduction in the risk of disease progression over the placebo group (HR 0·62, 95% CI 0·49-0·79; p<0·0001). The median progression-free survival, measured from randomisation, was 4·1 months (95% CI 3·2-4·6) for pemetrexed and 2·8 months (2·6-3·1) for placebo. Possibly treatment-related laboratory grade 3-4 adverse events were more common in the pemetrexed group (33 [9%] of 359 patients) than in the placebo group (one [<1%] of 180 patients; p<0·0001), as were non-laboratory grade 3-5 adverse events (32 [9%] of 359 patients in the pemetrexed group; eight [4%] of 180 patients in the placebo group; p=0·080); one possibly treatment-related death was reported in each group. The most common adverse events of grade 3-4 in the pemetrexed group were anaemia (16 [4%] of 359 patients), neutropenia (13 [4%]), and fatigue (15 [4%]). In the placebo group, these adverse events were less common: anaemia (one [<1%] of 180 patients), neutropenia (none), and fatigue (one <1%]). The most frequent serious adverse events were anaemia (eight [2%] of 359 patients in the pemetrexed group vs none in the placebo group) and febrile neutropenia (five [1%] vs none). Discontinuations due to drug-related adverse events occurred in 19 (5%) patients in the pemetrexed group and six (3%) patients in the placebo group. Continuation maintenance with pemetrexed is an effective and well tolerated treatment option for patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC with good performance status who have not progressed after induction therapy with pemetrexed plus cisplatin. Eli Lilly and Company.

Paz-Ares L ，de Marinis F ，Dediu M ，Thomas M ，Pujol JL ，Bidoli P ，Molinier O ，Sahoo TP ，Laack E ，Reck M ，Corral J ，Melemed S ，John W ，Chouaki N ，Zimmermann AH ，Visseren-Grul C ，Gridelli C ... -  《-》

Tecemotide in unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer in the phase III START study: updated overall survival and biomarker analyses.

Tecemotide is a MUC1-antigen-specific cancer immunotherapy. The phase III START study did not meet its primary end point but reported notable survival benefit with tecemotide versus placebo in an exploratory analysis of the predefined patient subgroup treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Here, we attempted to gain further insight into the effects of tecemotide in START. START recruited patients who did not progress following frontline chemoradiotherapy for unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer. We present updated overall survival (OS) data and exploratory analyses of OS for baseline biomarkers: soluble MUC1 (sMUC1), antinuclear antibodies (ANA), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte count, and HLA type. Updated OS data are consistent with the primary analysis: median 25.8 months (tecemotide) versus 22.4 months (placebo) (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.77-1.03, P = 0.111), with ∼20 months additional median follow-up time compared with the primary analysis. Exploratory analysis of the predefined subgroup treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy revealed clinically relevant prolonged OS with tecemotide versus placebo (29.4 versus 20.8 months; HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.98, P = 0.026). No improvement was seen with sequential chemoradiotherapy. High sMUC1 and ANA correlated with a possible survival benefit with tecemotide (interaction P = 0.0085 and 0.0022) and might have future value as biomarkers. Interactions between lymphocyte count, NLR, or prespecified HLA alleles and treatment effect were not observed. Updated OS data support potential treatment benefit with tecemotide in patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Exploratory biomarker analyses suggest that elevated sMUC1 or ANA levels correlate with tecemotide benefit. NCT00409188.

Mitchell P ，Thatcher N ，Socinski MA ，Wasilewska-Tesluk E ，Horwood K ，Szczesna A ，Martín C ，Ragulin Y ，Zukin M ，Helwig C ，Falk M ，Butts C ，Shepherd FA ... -  《-》

Gefitinib versus placebo as maintenance therapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (INFORM; C-TONG 0804): a multicentre, double-blind randomised phase 3 trial.

Maintenance treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without disease progression after first-line chemotherapy is a subject of ongoing research. The aim of the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, INFORM study was to investigate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of the EGFR-tyrosine-kinase inhibitor gefitinib in the maintenance setting. Patients were aged 18 years or older, were of east Asian ethnic origin, had a life expectancy of more than 12 weeks, histologically or cytologically confirmed stage IIIb or IV NSCLC, a WHO performance status of 0-2, and had completed four cycles of first-line platinum-based doublet chemotherapy without disease progression or unacceptable toxic effects. Between Sept 28, 2008 and Aug 11, 2009, 296 patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive either gefitinib (250 mg per day orally) or placebo (orally) within 3-6 weeks after chemotherapy until progression or unacceptable toxic effects. Randomisation was done via an interactive web response system with computer-generated randomisation codes. Our primary endpoint was progression-free survival assessed in the intention-to-treat population. This completed study is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov, number NCT00770588. Progression-free survival was significantly longer with gefitinib (n=148) than with placebo (148) (median progression-free survival 4·8 months [95% CI 3·2-8·5] vs 2·6 months [1·6-2·8]; hazard ratio [HR] 0·42, 95% CI 0·33-0·55; p<0·0001). Adverse events occurred more frequently with gefitinib than with placebo; the most common adverse events of any grade were rash (73 [50%] of 147 in the gefitinib group vs 14 [9%] of 148 in the placebo group), diarrhoea (37 [25%] vs 13 [9%]), and alanine aminotransferase increase (31 [21%] vs 12 [8%]). The most commonly reported grade 3 or 4 adverse event was alanine aminotransferase increase (3 [2%] of 147 in the gefitinib group, none of 148 in the placebo group). Ten of 147 (7%) patients given gefitinib and five of 148 (3%) patients given placebo had serious adverse events. Three deaths were thought to be related to treatment with gefitinib: one from interstitial lung disease; one from lung infection; and one from pneumonia. Maintenance treatment with gefitinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival compared with placebo in patients from east Asia with advanced NSCLC who achieved disease control after first-line chemotherapy. Clinicians should consider these data when making decisions about maintenance treatment in such patients. AstraZeneca.

Zhang L ，Ma S ，Song X ，Han B ，Cheng Y ，Huang C ，Yang S ，Liu X ，Liu Y ，Lu S ，Wang J ，Zhang S ，Zhou C ，Zhang X ，Hayashi N ，Wang M ，INFORM investigators ... -  《-》