Dr. Brahmer on the IMpower150 Trial in NSCLC

Julie R. Brahmer, MD, associate professor of oncology, co-director of the Upper Aerodigestive Department, Bloomberg Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses the clinical application of the IMpower150 trial in patients with non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Physicians now have data from the IMpower150 trial in which atezolizumab (Tecentriq) was combined with 3 other drugs—– bevacizumab (Avastin), paclitaxel, and carboplatin. That was compared to chemotherapy plus bevacizumab. Though progression-free survival (PFS) was improved, overall survival was not improved, notes Brahmer. Many physicians are interested in the fact that this was the only trial to include patients with EGFR-mutated disease. Not only were these patients included in the trial, but an improvement in PFS was seen in that subset of patients when atezolizumab was added to the chemotherapy and bevacizumab backbone.

Though provocative, Brahmer says physicians need to see larger studies with that subgroup of patients before combining the 4-drug regimen together in practice.