Efficacy and safety of necitumumab and pembrolizumab combination therapy in patients with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer

Objectives: Efficacy and safety of necitumumab when combined with pembrolizumab was assessed in patients with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of squamous and nonsquamous histology, who had progressed after treatment with a platinum-based doublet. Materials and methods: This single-arm, multicenter, phase Ib study had a dose-finding phase, in which escalating doses of necitumumab (600 mg and 800 mg IV) were administered on Day 1 and 8 every 3 weeks (Q3W) in combination with pembrolizumab (200 mg IV) on Day 1 Q3W, and expansion cohorts. Patients were treated until progressive disease (PD), toxicity requiring cessation, protocol noncompliance, or withdrawal of consent. Efficacy was evaluated by overall response rate (ORR). Results: In 64 treated patients (32 patients [50 %] were programmed death-ligand 1 [PD-L1] negative), confirmed ORR was 23.4 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 13.8 %–35.7 %). Two patients (3.1 %) had complete response (CR), 13 patients (20.3 %) had partial response (PR), 26 patients (40.6 %) had stable disease, 17 patients (26.6 %) had PD, and 6 patients (9.4 %) were not evaluable. Regardless of histology or PD-L1 status, median PFS (mPFS) was 4.1 months (95 % CI 2.4–6.9 months) and OS at 6 months was 74.7 % (61.5%–83.9%). Confirmed disease control rate was 64.1 % (95 % CI 51.5–75.7). Patients with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) ≥1% had numerically improved ORR and median progression-free survival when compared with patients with PD-L1 negative cancer. No dose-limiting toxicities were recorded and the combination of necitumumab 800 mg with pembrolizumab 200 mg was considered tolerable. Conclusion: Results suggest modest benefits of second-line necitumumab and pembrolizumab combination therapy in patients with Stage IV NSCLC. Safety profiles were consistent with class effects typical of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors and immunotherapies with no additive toxicities.