Five-year update of KEYNOTE-407: pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer

The multinational phase 3 KEYNOTE-407 trial randomized patients with previously untreated, metastatic squamous non-small lung cancer to addition of pembrolizumab versus placebo to four chemotherapy cycles, followed by pembrolizumab or placebo. Five-year update of the study showed that pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy continued to provide a clinically meaningful survival benefit with manageable safety compared with placebo plus chemotherapy. Five-year overall survival rates were 18.4% with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus 9.7% with placebo plus chemotherapy.