A Phase III Study of Durvalumab (MEDI4736) with or Without Tremelimumab for Previously Treated Patients with Advanced NSCLC: Rationale and Protocol Design of the ARCTIC Study

Anti-programmed cell death-1 and anti-programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) monotherapies have shown promising clinical activity in advanced, refractory non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but antitumor activity appears to be greater in patients with PD-L1⁺ tumors compared with patients harboring PD-L1^- tumors. Combining the anti-PD-L1 antibody durvalumab and the anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 antibody tremelimumab offers the potential for antitumor activity in patients with advanced NSCLC, regardless of PD-L1 tumor status. ARCTIC (NCT02352948) is a global, phase III, randomized, open-label multicenter study in patients with advanced NSCLC assessing the safety and clinical activity of durvalumab versus standard of care (SoC; erlotinib, gemcitabine, or vinorelbine) in patients with PD-L1⁺ tumors (≥25% of tumor cells with membrane staining using VENTANA PD-L1 [SP263] CDx Assay) (Sub-study A) and the combination of durvalumab + tremelimumab or either agent as monotherapy versus SoC in patients with PD-L1^- tumors (Sub-study B). Eligible patients are those with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC (Stage IIIB/IV), without epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase activating mutations or anaplastic lymphoma kinase rearrangements, who have received at least 2 prior systemic regimens, including 1 platinum-based chemotherapy regimen. Co-primary endpoints are progression-free survival and overall survival. Secondary endpoints include the proportion of patients alive at 12 months, objective response rate, duration of response, progression-free survival at 6 and 12 months, safety and tolerability, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, and quality of life. The exploratory endpoints will assess potential biomarkers of treatment response. Recruitment started in January 2015 and is ongoing.