Multicenter phase 1b study of sitravatinib combined with tislelizumab for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer

Some patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC respond poorly to anti-PD-(L)1 therapies. Combination with other agents may improve outcomes. The phase 1b SAFFRON-103 study, at 16 centers in Australia and China, evaluated the combination of the multi-TKI sitravatinib and the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody tislelizumab for LA/M NSCLC in five cohorts. The combination showed activity and was tolerable for most patients. During median 10.9 months of follow-up, median duration of response was not reached in cohort A and ranged from 6.9 to 17.9 months across the other cohorts. Median progression-free survival ranged from 4.2 (cohort A) to 11.1 months (cohort H). The authors conclude that these results support further investigation of the combination in selected NSCLC populations.