Recent studies have shown that adding tislelizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against PD-1, to standard chemotherapy can improve outcomes in patients with advanced squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aims to investigate the safety and efficacy of tislelizumab plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced squamous NSCLC.
This open-label, randomized phase-3 trial included a total of 355 patients with treatment-naive histologically confirmed stage IIIB/IV squamous NSCLC. The participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to the following groups: tislelizumab plus paclitaxel plus carboplatin (arm A); tislelizumab plus nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin (arm B); and paclitaxel and carboplatin (arm C). The primary outcome of the study was progression-free survival, along with overall survival.
After a median follow-up of 8.6 months, PFS was significantly improved when tislelizumab was combined with chemotherapy (7.6 months for arm A and arm B) compared to chemotherapy alone (5.5 months for arm C). Objective response rate and duration of response were higher in arms A and B compared with arm C. Treatment-related adverse events were observed in all groups.
The trial concluded that combining tislelizumab with chemotherapy was associated with an improved progression-free and overall survival compared to chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced squamous NSCLC.
Ref: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2777901?resultClick=1
