First-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone for advanced gastric, gastro-oesophageal junction, and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (CheckMate 649): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial.
First-line chemotherapy for advanced or metastatic human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma has a median overall survival (OS) of less than 1 year. We aimed to evaluate first-line programmed cell death (PD)-1 inhibitor-based therapies in gastric, gastro-oesophageal junction, and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. We report the first results for nivolumab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone.
In this multicentre, randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial (CheckMate 649), we enrolled adults (≥18 years) with previously untreated, unresectable, non-HER2-positive gastric, gastro-oesophageal junction, or oesophageal adenocarcinoma, regardless of PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression from 175 hospitals and cancer centres in 29 countries. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1 while all three groups were open) via interactive web response technology (block sizes of six) to nivolumab (360 mg every 3 weeks or 240 mg every 2 weeks) plus chemotherapy (capecitabine and oxaliplatin every 3 weeks or leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin every 2 weeks), nivolumab plus ipilimumab, or chemotherapy alone. Primary endpoints for nivolumab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone were OS or progression-free survival (PFS) by blinded independent central review, in patients whose tumours had a PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) of five or more. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of the assigned treatment. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02872116.
From March 27, 2017, to April 24, 2019, of 2687 patients assessed for eligibility, we concurrently randomly assigned 1581 patients to treatment (nivolumab plus chemotherapy [n=789, 50%] or chemotherapy alone [n=792, 50%]). The median follow-up for OS was 13·1 months (IQR 6·7-19·1) for nivolumab plus chemotherapy and 11·1 months (5·8-16·1) for chemotherapy alone. Nivolumab plus chemotherapy resulted in significant improvements in OS (hazard ratio [HR] 0·71 [98·4% CI 0·59-0·86]; p<0·0001) and PFS (HR 0·68 [98 % CI 0·56-0·81]; p<0·0001) versus chemotherapy alone in patients with a PD-L1 CPS of five or more (minimum follow-up 12·1 months). Additional results showed significant improvement in OS, along with PFS benefit, in patients with a PD-L1 CPS of one or more and all randomly assigned patients. Among all treated patients, 462 (59%) of 782 patients in the nivolumab plus chemotherapy group and 341 (44%) of 767 patients in the chemotherapy alone group had grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events. The most common any-grade treatment-related adverse events (≥25%) were nausea, diarrhoea, and peripheral neuropathy across both groups. 16 (2%) deaths in the nivolumab plus chemotherapy group and four (1%) deaths in the chemotherapy alone group were considered to be treatment-related. No new safety signals were identified.
Nivolumab is the first PD-1 inhibitor to show superior OS, along with PFS benefit and an acceptable safety profile, in combination with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in previously untreated patients with advanced gastric, gastro-oesophageal junction, or oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Nivolumab plus chemotherapy represents a new standard first-line treatment for these patients.
Bristol Myers Squibb, in collaboration with Ono Pharmaceutical.
Janjigian YY
,Shitara K
,Moehler M
,Garrido M
,Salman P
,Shen L
,Wyrwicz L
,Yamaguchi K
,Skoczylas T
,Campos Bragagnoli A
,Liu T
,Schenker M
,Yanez P
,Tehfe M
,Kowalyszyn R
,Karamouzis MV
,Bruges R
,Zander T
,Pazo-Cid R
,Hitre E
,Feeney K
,Cleary JM
,Poulart V
,Cullen D
,Lei M
,Xiao H
,Kondo K
,Li M
,Ajani JA
... -
《-》
Nivolumab plus chemotherapy or ipilimumab versus chemotherapy in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (CheckMate 648): 29-month follow-up from a randomized, open-label, phase III trial.
First-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy and nivolumab plus ipilimumab both demonstrated significant overall survival (OS) benefit versus chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in the CheckMate 648 trial, leading to approvals of both nivolumab-containing regimens in many countries. We report longer-term follow-up data.
This open-label, phase III trial (NCT03143153) enrolled adults with previously untreated, unresectable, advanced, recurrent, or metastatic ESCC. Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to nivolumab plus chemotherapy, nivolumab plus ipilimumab, or chemotherapy. Primary endpoints were OS and progression-free survival (PFS) by blinded independent central review. Hierarchical testing was performed first in patients with tumor cell programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of ≥1% and then in the overall population.
A total of 970 patients were randomly assigned. After 29 months of minimum follow-up, nivolumab plus chemotherapy continued to demonstrate improvement in OS versus chemotherapy (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.59 [95% CI: 0.46-0.76]) in patients with tumor cell PD-L1 expression of ≥1% and in the overall population (HR = 0.78 [95% CI: 0.65-0.93]) and with nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus chemotherapy (HR = 0.62 [95% CI: 0.48-0.80]) in patients with tumor cell PD-L1 expression of ≥1% and in the overall population (HR = 0.77 [95% CI: 0.65-0.92]). In patients with tumor cell PD-L1 expression of ≥1%, nivolumab plus chemotherapy demonstrated PFS benefit versus chemotherapy (HR = 0.67 [95% CI: 0.51-0.89]); PFS benefit was not observed with nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus chemotherapy (HR = 1.04 [95% CI: 0.79-1.36]). Among all treated patients (n = 936), Grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events were reported in 151 (49%, nivolumab plus chemotherapy), 105 (32%, nivolumab plus ipilimumab), and 110 (36%, chemotherapy) patients.
Nivolumab plus chemotherapy and nivolumab plus ipilimumab continued to demonstrate clinically meaningful OS benefit versus chemotherapy with no new safety signals identified with longer follow-up, further supporting use as first-line standard treatment options for patients with advanced ESCC.
Kato K
,Doki Y
,Chau I
,Xu J
,Wyrwicz L
,Motoyama S
,Ogata T
,Kawakami H
,Hsu CH
,Adenis A
,El Hajbi F
,Di Bartolomeo M
,Braghiroli MI
,Holtved E
,Makino T
,Blum Murphy M
,Amaya-Chanaga C
,Patel A
,Hu N
,Matsumura Y
,Kitagawa Y
,Ajani J
... -
《Cancer Medicine》
First-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric, gastroesophageal junction and esophageal adenocarcinoma: CheckMate 649 Chinese subgroup analysis.
First-line chemotherapy for advanced/metastatic human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC/GEJC) has poor median overall survival (OS; <1 year). We report efficacy and safety results from Chinese patients in the phase III global CheckMate 649 study of nivolumab plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of GC/GEJC/esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Chinese patients with previously untreated advanced or metastatic GC/GEJC/EAC were randomized to receive nivolumab (360 mg Q3W or 240 mg Q2W) plus chemotherapy (XELOX [capecitabine and oxaliplatin] Q3W or FOLFOX [oxaliplatin, leucovorin and 5-fluorouracil] Q2W), nivolumab plus ipilimumab (not reported) or chemotherapy alone. OS, blinded independent central review-assessed progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR) and safety are reported. Of 1581 patients enrolled and randomized, 208 were Chinese. In these patients, nivolumab plus chemotherapy resulted in clinically meaningful improvement in median OS (14.3 vs 10.2 months; HR 0.61 [95% CI: 0.44-0.85]), median PFS (8.3 vs 5.6 months; HR 0.57 [95% CI: 0.40-0.80]), ORR (66% vs 45%) and median DOR (12.2 vs 5.6 months) vs chemotherapy, respectively. The safety profile was acceptable, with no new safety signals observed. Consistent with results from the global primary analysis of CheckMate 649, nivolumab plus chemotherapy demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement in OS and PFS and higher response rate vs chemotherapy and an acceptable safety profile in Chinese patients. Nivolumab plus chemotherapy represents a new standard first-line treatment for Chinese patients with non-HER2-positive advanced GC/GEJC/EAC.
Liu T
,Bai Y
,Lin X
,Li W
,Wang J
,Zhang X
,Pan H
,Bai C
,Bai L
,Cheng Y
,Zhang J
,Zhong H
,Ba Y
,Hu W
,Xu R
,Guo W
,Qin S
,Yang N
,Lu J
,Shitara K
,Lei M
,Li M
,Bao N
,Chen T
,Shen L
... -
《-》