Phase 2 study of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced rare cancers.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Patients with advanced rare cancers have poor prognosis and few treatment options. As immunotherapy is effective across multiple cancer types, we aimed to assess pembrolizumab (programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor) in patients with advanced rare cancers.

METHODS:

In this open-label, phase 2 trial, patients with advanced rare cancers whose tumors had progressed on standard therapies, if available, within the previous 6 months were enrolled in nine tumor-specific cohorts and a 10th cohort for other rare histologies. Pembrolizumab 200 mg was administered intravenously every 21 days. The primary endpoint was non-progression rate (NPR) at 27 weeks; secondary endpoints were safety and tolerability, objective response rate (ORR), and clinical benefit rate (CBR).

RESULTS:

A total of 127 patients treated between August 15, 2016 and July 27, 2018 were included in this analysis. At the time of data cut-off, the NPR at 27 weeks was 28% (95% CI, 19% to 37%). A confirmed objective response (OR) was seen in 15 of 110 (14%) evaluable patients (complete response in one and partial response in 14). CBR, defined as the percentage of patients with an OR or stable disease ≥4 months, was 38% (n=42). Treatment was ongoing in 11 of 15 patients with OR at last follow-up. In the cohort with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin, the NPR at 27 weeks was 36%, ORR 31%, and CBR 38%. In patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), NPR at 27 weeks was 31%, ORR 15%, and CBR 54%. In the patients with carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP), NPR at 27 weeks was 33%, ORR 23%, and CBR 54%. In the paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma cohort, NPR at 27 weeks was 43%, ORR 0%, and CBR 75%. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 66 of 127 (52%) patients, and 12 (9%) had grade ≥3 TRAEs. The most common TRAEs were fatigue (n=25) and rash (n=17). There were six deaths, all of which were unrelated to the study drug.

CONCLUSIONS:

The favorable toxicity profile and antitumor activity seen in patients with SCC of skin, ACC, CUP, and paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma supports further evaluation of pembrolizumab in this patient population.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:

NCT02721732.

• Authors: Aung Naing, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Bettzy Stephen, Daniel D Karp, Joud Hajjar, Jordi Rodon Ahnert, Sarina A Piha-Paul, Rivka R Colen, Camilo Jimenez, Kanwal P Raghav, Renata Ferrarotto, Shi-Ming Tu, Matthew Campbell, Linghua Wang, Sarjeel H Sabir, Coya Tapia, Chantale Bernatchez, Michael Frumovitz, Nizar Tannir, Vinod Ravi, Saria Khan, Jeane M Painter, Abulrahman Abonofal, Jing Gong, Anas Alshawa, Lacey M McQuinn, Mingxuan Xu, Sara Ahmed, Vivek Subbiah, David S Hong, Shubham Pant, Timothy A Yap, Apostolia M Tsimberidou, Ecaterina E Ileana Dumbrava, Filip Janku, Siqing Fu, Richard M Simon, Kenneth R Hess, Gauri R Varadhachary, Mouhammed Amir Habra
• Journal: Journal for immunotherapy of cancer (J Immunother Cancer) Vol. 8 Issue 1 (03 2020) ISSN: 2051-1426 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 32188704 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Phase II, Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
• Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
• pembrolizumab

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized (therapeutic use)
• Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological (therapeutic use)
• Carcinoma, Squamous Cell (drug therapy, pathology)
• Cohort Studies
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasms (drug therapy, pathology)
• Prognosis
• Rare Diseases (drug therapy, pathology)
• Survival Rate
• Young Adult