Dr. Garassino Discusses PROs With Durvalumab by PD-L1 Expression in Stage III NSCLC

Marina Chiara Garassino, MD, medical consultant, Medical Oncology Division, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy, discusses patient reported outcomes (PROs) with durvalumab (Imfinzi) by PD-L1 expression in patients with stage III unresectable non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The phase III PACIFIC trial compared the PD-L1 inhibitor with placebo after concurrent chemoradiation in patients with stage III unresectable NSCLC. Positive progression-free survival and overall survival data with durvalumab served as the basis for the February 2018 FDA approval of the agent in this space. PROs served as a secondary endpoint of the trial. Initial data for this endpoint showed there was no deterioration in quality of life (QoL) for patients treated with durvalumab versus placebo.

At the 2019 European Lung Cancer Congress, Garrassino presented data showing that PD-L1 expression did not show clinically meaningful differences in QoL in either arm of the study. The results of the PROs across all PD-L1—positive cohorts for durvalumab compared to placebo were similar to those reported for the overall population. Chiara concludes that it’s feasible to give durvalumab to patients regardless of PD-L1 expression and not see a deterioration in QoL.