A Retrospective, Multicenter, Observational Study to Evaluate Clinical Outcomes of Lorlatinib After Alectinib in Patients With ALK-Positive NSCLC in Japan.

Introduction: Lorlatinib is an ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved in Japan for the treatment of advanced ALK+ NSCLC. There has been little evidence about lorlatinib efficacy after first-line (1L) alectinib in clinical practice in Japan. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with advanced ALK+ NSCLC previously treated with 1L alectinib at multiple sites in Japan. Primary objectives were to collect patient demographics at baseline and estimate time to treatment failure (TTF) with second-line (2L) or third-line (3L) or later line (≥3L) lorlatinib treatment. Secondary objectives included objective response rate (ORR) with lorlatinib, reason for discontinuation and time to last treatment failure with lorlatinib, TTF and ORR of alectinib, and combined TTF. Results: Among the 51 patients included in the study, 29 (56.9%) received 2L and 22 (43.1%) received ≥3L lorlatinib treatment. At lorlatinib initiation, brain metastases were reported in 25 patients (49.0%), and 32 (62.7%) had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1. Median TTF with lorlatinib was 11.1 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.6-13.8) in any line, 10.8 months (95% CI: 3.9-13.8) in 2L, and 11.5 months (95% CI: 2.9-not reached) in ≥3L. Median TTF was 11.5 months (95% CI: 3.9-not reached) in patients with brain metastases at lorlatinib initiation and 9.9 months (95% CI: 4.3-13.8) in patients without brain metastases. ORR was 35.7% with any-line lorlatinib treatment. Conclusions: Patient characteristics and efficacy were comparable with previous reports when lorlatinib was given after 1L alectinib in patients with ALK+ NSCLC.

Herpes zoster in patients with lung cancer treated with PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies.

Background: There are no available clinical data on immunotherapy and the risk of herpes zoster. Materials & methods: This retrospective study included patients with recurrent or advanced lung cancer who were inoperable and ineligible for radiotherapy and were treated with either a PD-1/PD-L1 antibody (136 patients) or an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (149 patients) at Jichi Medical University Hospital between January 2016 and December 2018. Results: Herpes zoster-free survival was significantly shorter in the PD-1/PD-L1 antibody-treated group compared with the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor-treated group (hazard ratio: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.048-0.84; p = 0.016). PD-1/PD-L1 antibody administration was independently and significantly associated with herpes zoster occurrence. Conclusion: Clinicians should anticipate herpes zoster in patients with lung cancer during treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies.

There are no available clinical data on immunotherapy and the risk of herpes zoster. This retrospective study included patients with recurrent or advanced lung cancer who were inoperable and ineligible for radiotherapy and were treated with either an immune checkpoint inhibitor (136 patients) or an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (149 patients) through the authors' university between January 2016 and December 2018. The herpes zoster-free period was significantly shorter in the immune checkpoint inhibitor-treated group compared with the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor-treated group (hazard ratio: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.048­0.84; p = 0.016). Immune checkpoint inhibitor antibody administration was independently and significantly associated with herpes zoster occurrence. Clinicians should be cautious of herpes zoster in patients with lung cancer during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

A Randomized Comparison of Nivolumab versus Nivolumab + Docetaxel for Previously Treated Advanced or Recurrent ICI-Naïve Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: TORG1630.

PURPOSE: The addition of cytotoxic chemotherapy to immune-checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) may enhance antitumor effects. We conducted an open-label randomized phase II/III study to evaluate nivolumab + docetaxel combination therapy in comparison with nivolumab monotherapy for previously treated ICI-naïve non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The primary endpoint of the phase III study was overall survival (OS), and the secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall response rate (ORR), and toxicity. As ICI and platinum-doublet combination chemotherapy was approved in the first-line setting during this study, patient accrual was discontinued. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-eight patients (each arm, n = 64) were included in the full analysis set. The median OS in nivolumab (arm A) and nivolumab + docetaxel (arm B) was 14.7 months (95% CI, 11.4-18.7) and 23.1 months (95% CI, 16.7-NR), respectively. The HR for OS was 0.63 (90% CI, 0.42-0.95; P = 0.0310). The median PFS in arms A and arm B was 3.1 months (95% CI, 2.0-3.9) and 6.7 months (95% CI, 3.8-9.4), respectively. The HR for progression was 0.58 (95% CI, 0.39-0.88; P = 0.0095). The ORR was 14.0% (95% CI, 6.3-25.8) in arm A and 41.8% (95% CI, 28.7-55.9) in arm B. Hematotoxicity and gastrointestinal adverse events were more common in arm B than in arm A. Two treatment-related deaths were observed, including one patient in arm A who died of pneumonitis and one in arm B who died of myocarditis. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a slightly elevated toxicity, the addition of docetaxel to nivolumab has significantly prolonged the OS and PFS of patients with previously treated ICI-naïve NSCLC.