Multinational phase 3 trial of perioperative nivolumab for resectable non-small cell lung cancer

The multinational phase 3 CheckMate 77T trial randomized patients with resectable stage IIA-IIIB NSCLC to neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy or placebo plus chemotherapy, followed by surgery and nivolumab or placebo. Prespecified interim analysis of the trial found that the percentage of patients with 18-months event-free survival was 70.2% in the nivolumab group and 50.0% in the chemotherapy group (HR 0.58; p<0.001). Pathological complete response was seen in 25.3% of patients in the nivolumab group and 4.7% of patients in the chemotherapy group (OR 6,64; 95% CI 3.40-12.97) and major pathological response was seen in 35.4% and 12.1%, respectively (4.01; 2.48-6.49). Grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 32.5% of the patients in the nivolumab group and 25.5% of those in the chemotherapy group. The authors conclude that perioperative nivolumab resulted in significantly longer event-free survival than chemotherapy in patients with resectable NSCLC (quick take video summary).