Study shows checkpoint inhibitor prolongs survival in patients with certain head and neck cancers
Source: medicalxpress.com Author: Anne Doerr, Yale University The checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) increases the survival time of patients with advanced head and neck cancers, according to a new global study led by Yale Cancer Center (YCC). The data was published today in the journal The Lancet. The findings of the phase 3 study show that, compared to the standard therapy, overall survival was significantly improved for participants with previously untreated recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancers. "This research demonstrates that this checkpoint inhibitor, with or without chemotherapy, should be the first drug used for these types of cancers," said the study's lead investigator, Barbara Burtness, M.D., a professor of medicine (medical oncology) and co-leader of developmental therapeutics at YCC. "This is a very positive advance in treatment for our patients." Burtness added that early results from this clinical trial, KEYNOTE-048, led to FDA approval earlier this year of pembrolizumab as first-line therapy in untreated recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma, which include cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx. While the median survival benefit was calculated in months, some patients treated with pembrolizumab lived much longer and did significantly better than patients who were not treated with the checkpoint inhibitor, Burtness noted. The study looked at 882 participants enrolled in 200 medical centers in 37 countries, who were randomly assigned to one of three different groups: those receiving pembrolizumab, those treated with pembrolizumab and chemotherapy, and those getting the standard therapy with cetuximab and chemotherapy. [...]