Merck Presents Positive News For Keytruda Combination in NSCLC

Merck has revealed positive five-year data on Keytruda, its anti-PD-1 therapy, in the first-line treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). According to two pivotal Phase 3 studies, Keytruda plus chemotherapy showed higher five-year overall survival (OS) rates compared to chemotherapy alone in both non-squamous and squamous NSCLC. 

The data for Merck’s NSCLC and prostate cancer trials was presented among others at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022.

Keynote-189 And Keynote-407 Results

In the Keynote-189 study on non-squamous NSCLC, Keytruda plus pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin) showed a five-year (OS) rate of 19.4% versus 11.3% for chemotherapy alone. The combination reduced risk of death by 40% and more than doubled the median OS compared to chemotherapy alone (22.0 months versus 10.6 months).

For patients with metastatic squamous NSCLC, results from Keynote-407 showed the five-year OS for Keytruda plus carboplatin-paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel was 18.4% versus 9.7% for chemotherapy alone. The combination reduced the risk of death by 29%. The median OS was 17.2 months for the Keytruda combination versus 11.6 months for the chemotherapy group.

No new safety signals surfaced during the trials. The frequency of adverse events were comparable in both the Keytruda-chemotherapy and chemotherapy groups.

“Prior to these landmark studies, lung cancer had a 10% five-year survival rate, one of the lowest of any cancer,” said Dr. Marina C. Garassino, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and principal investigator for Keynote-189.

“These results show meaningful improvements in five-year survival for patients receiving Keytruda plus chemotherapy and reinforce the important role of these Keytruda-based regimens as standards of care for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.”

“In both studies, of the approximately 55 patients who completed two years of treatment, about 70% were alive at five years,” said Dr. Eliav Barr, “head of global clinical development and chief medical officer at Merck Research Laboratories.”

In addition to NSCLC, five-year survival data for Keytruda have also been presented in bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, and melanoma. 

Author

Joy Lin

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