| The following article features coverage from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2018 meeting. Click here to read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s conference coverage. |
Tislelizumab, an anti–PD-1 antibody, demonstrated antitumor activity when combined with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced lung cancer in Chinese patients, according to results from a phase 2 trial presented at the IASLC’s 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto, Canada.1
Tislelizumab is different from already-approved anti–PD-1 antibodies because it is engineered to minimize FcϒR binding with macrophages, which is hypothesized to reduce negative interactions.
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Prior phase 1 data suggest that tislelizumab has antitumor activity and was well tolerated.
An ongoing indication expansion of the phase 1 trial stratified 42 patients with NSCLC by high (≥10% tumor cells expressing PD-L1) or low PD-L1 tumor expression.2Confirmed partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD) were achieved by 10% and 51% of patients, respectively, corresponding to a disease control rate of 62%. The objective response rate was 14% for patients with high PD-L1 expression compared with 8% for patients with low expression.
The phase 2 study aimed to determine if the combination of tislelizumab plus chemotherapy could be an effective first-line treatment for advanced lung cancers in Chinese patients.
The ongoing multi-arm phase 2 study has treated 48 patients to date. Patients are a median age of 62 years, are 71% male, and 71% are current or former smokers with advanced squamous or nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or small cell lung cancer (SCLC) until disease progression. The chemotherapy that was selected for each patient was based on tumor histology.
Of the 34 evaluable patients, 38% experienced a confirmed PR and 24% demonstrated SD across all cohorts.
The most common adverse events (AEs) were related to chemotherapy, with the most common grade 3 or higher AEs including neutropenia and anemia. The most common immune-related AEs were pyrexia and rash.
In the phase 1 extension study, the most common treatment-related AEs were elevated liver enzymes, hypothyroidism, and rash.
These data suggest that tislelizumab has antitumor activity against lung cancers. An ongoing phase 3 trial is evaluating tislelizumab compared with docetaxel as a second or subsequent-line therapy for patients with NSCLC.
Read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s coverage of the IASLC 2018 meeting by visiting the conference page.
References
- Zhao J, Wang Z, Ma Z, et al. Tislelizumab combined with chemotherapy as first-line treatment in Chinese patients with advanced lung cancer. Presented at: International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer; Toronto, Canada; September 23-26, 2018. Abstract JCSE01.22A.
- Zhao J, Zhang Q, Pan H, et al. Preliminary results with tislelizumab in Chinese patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Presented at: International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer; Toronto, Canada; September 23-26, 2018. Abstract P2.04-29.
