Cited by 2,823Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersLung Cancer Treatments and MutationsLung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Nivolumab plus ipilimumab in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

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Hellmann, Matthew D., Paz-Ares, Luis, Bernabe Caro, Reyes, Zurawski, Bogdan, Kim, Sang-We, Carcereny Costa, Enric, Park, Keunchil, Alexandru, Aurelia +18 more·2019·New England Journal of Medicine

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In an early-phase study involving patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the response rate was better with nivolumab plus ipilimumab than with nivolumab monotherapy, particularly among patients with tumors that expressed programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Data are needed to assess the long-term benefit of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with NSCLC. METHODS: In this open-label, phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned patients with stage IV or recurrent NSCLC and a PD-L1 expression level of 1% or more in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive nivolumab plus ipilimumab, nivolumab alone, or chemotherapy. The patients who had a PD-L1 expression level of less than 1% were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive nivolumab plus ipilimumab, nivolumab plus chemotherapy, or chemotherapy alone. All the patients had received no previous chemotherapy. The primary end point reported here was overall survival with nivolumab plus ipilimumab as compared with chemotherapy in patients with a PD-L1 expression level of 1% or more. RESULTS: Among the patients with a PD-L1 expression level of 1% or more, the median duration of overall survival was 17.1 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.0 to 20.1) with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and 14.9 months (95% CI, 12.7 to 16.7) with chemotherapy (P = 0.007), with 2-year overall survival rates of 40.0% and 32.8%, respectively. The median duration of response was 23.2 months with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and 6.2 months with chemotherapy. The overall survival benefit was also observed in patients with a PD-L1 expression level of less than 1%, with a median duration of 17.2 months (95% CI, 12.8 to 22.0) with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and 12.2 months (95% CI, 9.2 to 14.3) with chemotherapy. Among all the patients in the trial, the median duration of overall survival was 17.1 months (95% CI, 15.2 to 19.9) with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and 13.9 months (95% CI, 12.2 to 15.1) with chemotherapy. The percentage of patients with grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events in the overall population was 32.8% with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and 36.0% with chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: First-line treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab resulted in a longer duration of overall survival than did chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC, independent of the PD-L1 expression level. No new safety concerns emerged with longer follow-up. (Funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical; CheckMate 227 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02477826.).

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  1. [17]17. Wei SC, Duffy CR, Allison JP. Funda- mental mechanisms of immune check- point blockade therapy. Cancer Discov 2018; 8: 1069-86.
  2. [22]22. Larkin J, Chiarion-Sileni V, Gonzalez R, et al. Combined nivolumab and ipilimu- mab or monotherapy in untreated mela- noma. N Engl J Med 2015; 373: 23-34.

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Authors
Hellmann, M. D., Paz-Ares, L., Bernabe Caro, R., Zurawski, B., Kim, S.-W., Carcereny Costa, E., Park, K., Alexandru, A., Lupinacci, L., de la Mora Jimenez, E., Sakai, H., Albert, I., Vergnenegre, A., Peters, S., Syrigos, K., Barlesi, F., Reck, M., Borghaei, H., Brahmer, J. R., O’Byrne, K. J., Geese, W. J., Bhagavatheeswaran, P., Rabindran, S. K., Kasinathan, R. S., Nathan, F. E., & Ramalingam, S. S.
Affiliations
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
  • Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
  • From the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York (M.D.H.); Hospital Universitario Doce de Octubre, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas, Universidad Complutense, and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer, Madrid (L.P.-A.), Hospital Universitario Virgen Del Rocio, Seville (R.B.C.), and the Catalan Institute of Oncology–Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, Badalona (E.C.C.) — all in Spain; Ambulatorium Chemioterapii, Bydgoszcz, Poland (B.Z.); the Asan Medical Center (S.-W.K....
  • Fox Chase Cancer Center (US)
Venue
New England Journal of Medicine
Published
2019-11-21
Volume
381
Issue
21
Pages
2020-2031
ISSN
  • 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-4406
OpenAlex
W2976744492
Cited by
2,823
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 183 · 2025: 316 · 2024: 399 · 2023: 448 · 2022: 516 · 2021: 570 · 2020: 368 · 2019: 18 · 2013: 1
FWCI
154.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
  • IRIS (submittedVersion)
  • SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
  • RISalud Institutional Health Repository of Andalucía (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Lung Cancer Treatments and Mutations
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
Keywords
ipilimumab, non-small cell lung cancer, PD-L1 expression, immune checkpoint inhibitors, combination immunotherapy, overall survival, chemotherapy, PD-1, CTLA-4, long-term benefits, PD-L1-negative tumors, stage IV lung cancer, recurrent lung cancer, immune-related adverse events, immune-related pneumonitis
MeSH terms
Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological, Ipilimumab, Nivolumab, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung, Female, Humans, Lung Neoplasms, Male, Middle Aged, Survival Analysis, B7-H1 Antigen

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