TY - JOUR
T1 - Adjuvant pembrolizumab versus placebo in resected stage III melanoma
AU - Eggermont, Alexander M. M.
AU - Blank, Christian U.
AU - Mandala, Mario
AU - Long, Georgina V.
AU - Atkinson, Victoria
AU - Dalle, Stéphane
AU - Haydon, Andrew
AU - Lichinitser, Mikhail
AU - Khattak, Adnan
AU - Carlino, Matteo S.
AU - Sandhu, Shahneen
AU - Larkin, James
AU - Puig, Susana
AU - Ascierto, Paolo A.
AU - Rutkowski, Piotr
AU - Schadendorf, Dirk
AU - Koornstra, Rutger
AU - Hernandez-Aya, Leonel
AU - Maio, Michele
AU - van den Eertwegh, Alfonsus J. M.
AU - Grob, Jean-Jacques
AU - Gutzmer, Ralf
AU - Jamal, Rahima
AU - Lorigan, Paul
AU - Ibrahim, Nageatte
AU - Marreaud, Sandrine
AU - van Akkooi, Alexander C. J.
AU - Suciu, Stefan
AU - Robert, Caroline
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - BACKGROUND: The programmed death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab has been found to prolong progression-free and overall survival among patients with advanced melanoma. We conducted a phase 3 double-blind trial to evaluate pembrolizumab as adjuvant therapy in patients with resected, high-risk stage III melanoma. METHODS: Patients with completely resected stage III melanoma were randomly assigned (with stratification according to cancer stage and geographic region) to receive 200 mg of pembrolizumab (514 patients) or placebo (505 patients) intravenously every 3 weeks for a total of 18 doses (approximately 1 year) or until disease recurrence or unacceptable toxic effects occurred. Recurrence-free survival in the overall intention-to-treat population and in the subgroup of patients with cancer that was positive for the PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) were the primary end points. Safety was also evaluated. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 15 months, pembrolizumab was associated with significantly longer recurrence-free survival than placebo in the overall intention-to-treat population (1-year rate of recurrence-free survival, 75.4% [95% conf idence interval {CI}, 71.3 to 78.9] vs. 61.0% [95% CI, 56.5 to 65.1]; hazard ratio for recurrence or death, 0.57; 98.4% CI, 0.43 to 0.74; P<0.001) and in the subgroup of 853 patients with PD-L1-positive tumors (1-year rate of recurrence-free survival, 77.1% [95% CI, 72.7 to 80.9] in the pembrolizumab group and 62.6% [95% CI, 57.7 to 67.0] in the placebo group; hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.69; P<0.001). Adverse events of grades 3 to 5 that were related to the trial regimen were reported in 14.7% of the patients in the pembrolizumab group and in 3.4% of patients in the placebo group. There was one treatment-related death due to myositis in the pembrolizumab group. CONCLUSIONS: As adjuvant therapy for high-risk stage III melanoma, 200 mg of pembrolizumab administered every 3 weeks for up to 1 year resulted in significantly longer recurrence-free survival than placebo, with no new toxic effects identified.
AB - BACKGROUND: The programmed death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab has been found to prolong progression-free and overall survival among patients with advanced melanoma. We conducted a phase 3 double-blind trial to evaluate pembrolizumab as adjuvant therapy in patients with resected, high-risk stage III melanoma. METHODS: Patients with completely resected stage III melanoma were randomly assigned (with stratification according to cancer stage and geographic region) to receive 200 mg of pembrolizumab (514 patients) or placebo (505 patients) intravenously every 3 weeks for a total of 18 doses (approximately 1 year) or until disease recurrence or unacceptable toxic effects occurred. Recurrence-free survival in the overall intention-to-treat population and in the subgroup of patients with cancer that was positive for the PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) were the primary end points. Safety was also evaluated. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 15 months, pembrolizumab was associated with significantly longer recurrence-free survival than placebo in the overall intention-to-treat population (1-year rate of recurrence-free survival, 75.4% [95% conf idence interval {CI}, 71.3 to 78.9] vs. 61.0% [95% CI, 56.5 to 65.1]; hazard ratio for recurrence or death, 0.57; 98.4% CI, 0.43 to 0.74; P<0.001) and in the subgroup of 853 patients with PD-L1-positive tumors (1-year rate of recurrence-free survival, 77.1% [95% CI, 72.7 to 80.9] in the pembrolizumab group and 62.6% [95% CI, 57.7 to 67.0] in the placebo group; hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.69; P<0.001). Adverse events of grades 3 to 5 that were related to the trial regimen were reported in 14.7% of the patients in the pembrolizumab group and in 3.4% of patients in the placebo group. There was one treatment-related death due to myositis in the pembrolizumab group. CONCLUSIONS: As adjuvant therapy for high-risk stage III melanoma, 200 mg of pembrolizumab administered every 3 weeks for up to 1 year resulted in significantly longer recurrence-free survival than placebo, with no new toxic effects identified.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85046890226&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29658430
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1802357
DO - https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1802357
M3 - Article
C2 - 29658430
SN - 0028-4793
VL - 378
SP - 1789
EP - 1801
JO - New England journal of medicine
JF - New England journal of medicine
IS - 19
ER -