Researchers Present Updated OS Analysis of PERLA Trial in Metastatic NSCLC

Dostarlimab plus chemotherapy continued to “demonstrate strong clinical efficacy” in metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the updated overall survival (OS) analysis from the phase 2 PERLA trial.

Solange Peters, MD, PhD, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, and colleagues conducted the study and presented their results at the Society for Immunotherapy in Cancer 2024 Annual Meeting.

The PERLA trial is the “first global randomized, double-blind, head-to-head study” to evaluate two PD-1 inhibitors, dostarlimab and pembrolizumab, in combination with chemotherapy, the study investigators explained. In previous analyses, dostarlimab plus chemotherapy “demonstrated favorable numerical improvement” in progression-free survival, overall response rate, and OS compared to pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy.

The study included 243 patients with confirmed metastatic NSCLC who did not have actionable genomic aberrations. All patients had documented PD-L1 status with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Scale scores of 0-1 and had no prior systemic treatment. The researchers randomized patients 1:1 to receive a combination of four cycles of chemotherapy every three weeks by IV, combined with either dostarlimab 500 mg (n=121) or pembrolizumab 200 mg (n=122) every three weeks by IV for up to 35 cycles over up to 24 months.

At the data cut-off on April 30,2023, the OS maturity was 67%, with a median OS of 20.2 months (95% CI, 14.5 to 27.3) in patients receiving dostarlimab plus chemotherapy, compared to a median OS of 15.9 months (95% CI 11.6 to 19.3) in patients receiving pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.54 to 1.00). The median duration of follow-up was 31.1 months in those receiving dostarlimab plus chemotherapy and 31.9 months in those receiving pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy. No new safety signals were reported.

“In this updated OS analysis, dostarlimab [plus chemotherapy] continues to demonstrate strong clinical efficacy with no new safety signals,” Dr. Peters and colleagues concluded. “In addition, the previously observed numerical trend in OS favoring dostarlimab [plus chemotherapy] versus pembrolizumab [plus chemotherapy] was maintained.”

Reference

Peters S, Min Lim SM, Ortega Granados AL, et al. Updated overall survival from PERLA, a phase II randomized double-blind trial of dostarlimab + chemotherapy (CT) vs pembrolizumab + CT in metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Abstract 711. Presented at the 2024 Society for Immunotherapy in Cancer Annual Meeting, November 6-10, Houston, Texas.