Topp et al. evaluated the efficacy of pembrolizumab in 799 patients who received treatment beyond progressive disease per RECIST v1.1 across six solid tumor types, and showed that a proportion of patients respond to therapy beyond progression. In patients treated beyond progression, a majority of patients (64.8%–76.5%) showed stable target lesion dynamics, while a subset of patients (8.9% and 24.4%) showed a 30% or greater reduction in the sum of lesion diameters. ICI-responsive tumor types, such as melanoma, showed the highest response rates, and patients with longer durations of treatment showed deeper responses.
Contributed by Shishir Pant
ABSTRACT: While many patients are treated beyond progression (TBP), the magnitude and duration of clinical benefit in these patients have not been fully quantified. Data from 799 patients with melanoma (n = 176), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; n = 146), gastric cancer (GC; n = 87), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC; n = 112), clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC; n = 51), and urothelial carcinoma (UC; n = 227) TBP were included. Patients had received pembrolizumab beyond confirmed progressive disease (PD) per RECIST v1.1. A subset of patients displays a 30% reduction in the sum of lesion diameters in the post-progression period (melanoma 24.4%, NSCLC 11.6%, 12.6% GC, 8.9% HNSCC, 15.7% ccRCC, and 13.2% UC). Most patients show stable target lesion dynamics in the post-progression period (melanoma, 64.8%; NSCLC, 72.6%; GC, 69.0%, 75.9% HNSCC, 72.5% ccRCC, 75.3% UC). Pembrolizumab generates meaningful efficacy in a subset of patients treated beyond RECIST v1.1 progression.
Author Info: (1) Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA. Electronic address: brian.topp@merck.com. (2) Vantage Research, Chennai, India. (3) Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA. (4) Merck & Co., Inc,
Author Info: (1) Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA. Electronic address: brian.topp@merck.com. (2) Vantage Research, Chennai, India. (3) Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA. (4) Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA. (5) Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA. (6) Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA. (7) Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA. (8) UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
