Multinational phase 3 trial of perioperative pembrolizumab for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer

The multinational phase 3 KEYNOTE-671 trial evaluated perioperative pembrolizumab for non-small cell lung cancer. Patients were randomized to neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, followed by surgery and adjuvant pembrolizumab (pembro arm) or placebo plus chemotherapy, followed by surgery and adjuvant placebo (placebo arm). At the planned interim analysis, the event-free survival was better in the pembrolizumab arm than in the placebo arm, as were major pathological response and pathological complete response rates. Overall survival did not differ significantly between the groups in this analysis.