New data presented at the ESMO Congress in Madrid show that combining Amgen’s drug Imdelltra with AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy Imfinzi reduces the risk of death from extensive-stage small cell lung cancer by 58%.
The clinical trial showed that treatment with both drugs increased median overall survival to 21.1 months. By comparison, patients treated with Imfinzi alone (the standard therapy) lived for a median of 12.7 months. After one year of follow-up, nearly 80% of patients receiving the combination therapy were still alive, compared with just 53% in the monotherapy group.
Small cell lung cancer is an extremely aggressive disease. The new combination works through two complementary mechanisms: Imdelltra, a bispecific antibody, directly links the immune system’s T cells to cancer cells, enabling them to destroy the tumor cells. Meanwhile, Imfinzi prevents the tumor from evading immune attack.
The full results of the study, which included 563 patients, were published in the medical journal The New England Journal of Medicine. According to the data, serious adverse events, including a decrease in white blood cell counts, occurred in 20.9% of patients in the combination therapy group, compared with 10.8% in the monotherapy group. In addition, nearly half (49.6%) of patients receiving Imdelltra developed cytokine release syndrome (an aggressive inflammatory reaction). However, only one patient experienced a severe case, and it did not result in death.
“The earlier we start treatment with Imdelltra, the greater the clinical benefit we achieve. Results like these have never before been seen in the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer,” said Paul Burton, Amgen’s chief medical officer.
