Dr. Langer on the Benefit of Atezolizumab Following Progression in Advanced NSCLC

Corey J. Langer, MD, director, Thoracic Oncology, professor of Medicine, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the benefit observed with the continued treatment of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) following disease progression in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The phase 3 OAK trial (NCT02008227) evaluated the efficacy and safety of atezolizumab compared with docetaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC after failure with platinum-containing chemotherapy.

A secondary analysis of patients on the OAK trial evaluated patients who continued atezolizumab following disease progression and found that these patients had improved outcomes vs patients who had stopped docetaxel following disease progression, Langer explains. The continued benefit observed following progression implied that atezolizumab was still manipulating the cancer after radiographic progression, Langer says.

Though other factors could have attributed to the benefit for patients who continued treatment following progression, investigators still observed a clear survival separation between the 2 groups, Langer concludes.