Three-year follow-up of a multinational phase 3 trial of first-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy and bevacizumab for advanced nsqNSCLC

In the randomized phase III TASUKI-52 trial, in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, addition of nivolumab versus placebo to first-line carboplatin plus paclitaxel and bevacizumab significantly prolonged the progression-free survival of patients with advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (nsqNSCLC) after median duration of follow-up of 13.7 months. Results of the trial after minimum follow-up of 36.1 months have now been published. The median progression-free survival was 10.6 versus 8.2 months (HR 0.59; p<0.0001) with nivolumab versus placebo, whereas the median overall survival was 31.6 months versus 24.7 months (HR 0.71; 95% CI 0.57-0.88). Of note, PFS and OS favored the nivolumab group across patients with different PD-L1 expression levels, and regardless of baselin brain metastasis status. Grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 76.2% of patients in the nivolumab group and 74.9% of patients in the placebo group., while no new safety concerns were identified. The authors conclude that addition of nivolumab to first-line carboplatin plus paclitaxel and bevacizumab resulted in significantly longer PFS and OS among patients with advanced nsqNSCLC.