Pre- and Postsurgical Immunotherapy Improves Outcomes in Operable NSCLC

Administering perioperative immunotherapy both before and after surgery significantly improves event-free survival (EFS) in patients with resectable early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2023.

The CheckMate 77T trial was a randomized, double-blind study comprising more than 450 patients with NSCLC. The study subjects were randomized to treatment with either neoadjuvant nivolumab with chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant nivolumab, or neoadjuvant chemotherapy and placebo followed by surgery and adjuvant placebo.

According to the results, the median EFS with chemotherapy alone was 18.4 months, while the median had not yet been reached for patients receiving perioperative nivolumab, meaning EFS was prolonged significantly compared with the control group. The researchers noted that these results correspond to a 42% reduction in risk of disease progression, recurrence, or death for those receiving the perioperative combination.

“This study builds on the standard-of-care neoadjuvant treatment and supports perioperative nivolumab as an effective approach that reduces the risk of lung cancer relapse,” said principal investigator Tina Cascone, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. “These findings add to evidence that the perioperative immunotherapy path gives patients with operable lung cancer an opportunity to live longer without their cancer returning.”