Pembrolizumab plus FLOT vs FLOT as neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy in locally advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer: Interim analysis of the phase 3 KEYNOTE-585 study.

Authors

null

Salah-Eddin Al-Batran

Krankenhaus Nordwest, UCT-University Cancer Center and Frankfurter Institut für Klinische Krebsforschung IKF GmbH at Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt, Germany

Salah-Eddin Al-Batran , Kohei Shitara , Gunnar Folprecht , Markus H. Moehler , Eray Goekkurt , Irit Ben-Aharon , Sara Lonardi , Stacey Stein , Ayala Hubert , Ian Chau , Moshe Mishaeli , Luis Villanueva , Petr Kavan , Xiao Fang , Chie-Schin Shih , Pooja Bhagia , Lucjan S. Wyrwicz

Organizations

Krankenhaus Nordwest, UCT-University Cancer Center and Frankfurter Institut für Klinische Krebsforschung IKF GmbH at Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt, Germany, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus and Technische Universitat Dresden, Dresden, Germany, Department of Medicine and Research Center for Immunotherapy Johannes Gutenberg University-Clinic, Mainz, Germany, Practice of Hematology and Oncology (HOPE), Hamburg, Germany, Division of Oncology, Rambam Health Care Center, Haifa, Israel, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy, Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, CT, Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, Oncology Department, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Sava, Israel, Fundación Arturo López Pérez FALP, Providencia, Santiago, Chile, Segal Cancer Center, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Poland

Research Funding

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA

Background: The phase 3 KEYNOTE-585 study (NCT03221426) evaluated neoadjuvant/adjuvant pembrolizumab (pembro) or placebo (pbo) + chemotherapy (chemo) followed by adjuvant pembro vs pbo in locally advanced, resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) cancer. A separate cohort evaluated pembro + FLOT (FLOT cohort). We report results from safety and efficacy analyses of the FLOT cohort at third interim analysis. Methods: In the FLOT cohort, patients (pts) with untreated, locally advanced, resectable G/GEJ cancer were randomized 1:1 to neoadjuvant pembro 200 mg IV Q3W (pembro gp) or pbo (pbo gp) Q3W for 3 cycles + FLOT (docetaxel, oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and 5-FU) Q2W for 4 cycles. After surgery, pts received adjuvant pembro or pbo Q3W for 3 cycles + FLOT Q2W for 4 cycles, then adjuvant pembro or pbo Q3W for 11 cycles. Endpoints evaluated included safety, pathCR rate (BICR), EFS (RECIST 1.1, by investigator), and OS in the ITT. Data cut-off at third interim analysis was 09 Feb 2023. Results: A total of 203 pts were randomized (100 pembro + FLOT; 103 pbo + FLOT). Among these, 12 (6%) pts had cT1-T2, 161 (79%) had cT3, and 9 (4%) had cT4. 140 (69%) had N+ disease, and 79 (39%) had GEJ adenocarcinoma at baseline. Median follow-up was 31.6 months (mo) and 31.1 mo, respectively, at IA3. A total of 94 of 99 (95%) pts completed the neoadjuvant phase, 87 of 99 (87%) completed the surgery phase, and 45 of 77 (58%) completed adjuvant treatment. The R0-resection rate was 79% vs 80% in the pembro gp vs pbo gp, respectively. The pathCR rate was 17.0% (95% CI, 10.2-25.8) in the pembro gp and 6.8% (95% CI, 2.8-13.5) in the pbo gp, estimated difference (10.2% [95% CI, 1.3-19.7]). Median EFS was not reached (95% CI, 28.2-NR) in the pembro gp and 30.9 mo (22.8-NR) in the pbo gp (HR 0.79; 95% CI, 0.52-1.22). The 24-mo EFS rates were 66% and 57%, respectively. Median OS was not reached in either group (HR 1.04; 95% CI, 0.66-1.66). The 24-mo OS rates were 72% and 73%, respectively. Grade ≥ 3 drug-related AE rates in all phases combined were 76% and 63% in the pembro vs pbo gp, with serious drug-related AEs in 42% vs 20%, and surgery-related AEs in 20% vs 13%, respectively. A total of 3 (3%) vs 1 (1%) pt in the pembro vs pbo gp died due to a drug-related AE. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant/adjuvant pembro + FLOT was feasible with no new safety concerns. PathCR and EFS favored pembro + FLOT vs pbo + FLOT in pts with untreated, locally advanced resectable G/GEJ cancer. Clinical trial information: NCT03221426.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2024 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

Session Type

Oral Abstract Session

Session Title

Oral Abstract Session A: Cancers of the Esophagus and Stomach

Track

Esophageal and Gastric Cancer,Other GI Cancer

Sub Track

Other

Clinical Trial Registration Number

NCT03221426

Citation

J Clin Oncol 42, 2024 (suppl 3; abstr 247)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2024.42.3_suppl.247

Abstract #

247

Abstract Disclosures