Berzosertib plus topotecan significantly improves OS but not progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC) compared with topotecan alone, according to recent phase 2 study findings.
A randomized clinical trial, led by Nobuyuki Takahashi, MD, and conducted between December 2019 and December 2022, included 60 patients from 16 cancer centers across the United States. Patients relapsed after one or more prior therapies, and all patients had received prior treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy. More than half (55%) of the patients were men, and the median age at baseline was 59 years.
The patients were randomly selected to receive topotecan alone (n=20) or topotecan with berzosertib (n=40). The researchers aimed to evaluate PFS in the intention-to-treat population as their primary end point, with OS in the overall population as a secondary end point.
After a median follow-up of 21.3 months, there was no difference in PFS between the topotecan-alone versus topotecan-plus-berzosertib groups (3.0 months vs 3.9 months, respectively).
However, the combination group showed significantly longer OS, 8.9 months compared with 5.4 months, in patients with SCLC who only received topotecan.
Adverse events, such as grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia and any grade nausea, were similar between both groups.
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