Today, I comment,
“First-line cemiplimab monotherapy and continued cemiplimab beyond progression plus chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with PD-L1 50% or more (EMPOWER-Lung 1): 35-month follow-up from a mutlicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial”
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(23)00329-7/fulltext (14 Aug. 2023) Open Access
As the summary of this paper, Cemiplimab (name of a new medicine they are testing) is the medicine for the lung cancer, using new technic “immuno-check point”. Cemiplimab was going through Phase 3 ,which is the final test phase to sell medicine. The result was acceptable and would be available in your hand for the future.
Details :
To Whom?
They tried this test to the people who have non-small cell lung cancer (both non-squamous and squamous) with PD-L1 expression over 50% for 35 months. (284 for cemiplimab vs 281 for conventional chemotherapy)
How much effective to them?
cemiplimab: average survival 26.1 month, (149 of 284 died)
conventional chemotherapy: average survival 13.3 month, (188 of 281 died)
As this comparison said, the Group who were tested cemiplimab lived twice longer
Let’s see at the time point of 35 months,
149/284 ≒ 0.5246, 52% for cemiplimab group
188/281 ≒ 0.6690 66.9% for chemotherapy group
In a word, at 3 years, the survival rate is more than 10 percent higher
Comment: in a general, chemotherapy treatment’s side effect is not easy, but cancer immunotherapy’s one is milder side effect. And, this medicine seems successful to the lung cancer. Hope this medicine to people in need.
Further details for see the paper and ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03088540
https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03088540
Japanese Part 日本語
Cemiplimabの途中経過が報告されていたので、解説。
フェーズ３のテスト中ではあるが、経過はかなりよさげ。この薬は、免疫チェックポイントっていうところに作用するように設計された、がん免疫治療薬。ターゲットは、非扁平上皮非小細胞肺がんor扁平上皮非小細胞肺がんでこのうちPD-L1の発現が50%以上になっている人に治験を実施。
結果は、35週時点、3年くらいたった時に、Cemiplimabが26.1か月の平均した生存期間。これは、従来の化学療法が13.3か月だったので、2倍近く長い。実際、35か月たった時点で、48パーセント以上の人が生存していてる。（Cemiplimab 投与の人は284人中149人、化学療法では281人中188人が闘病中に亡くなった。）10%以上の差が出ている。
コメント：化学療法は、一般的に、副作用がつらい。免疫チェックポイント薬に関しては、わりとマイルドで、患者にも優しめ。いい結果も出ているし、なるべく早く必要な人に届いたらと思う。
治験のデータは、こちらからも確認可 ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03088540