Final progression-free survival, interim overall survival, and biomarker analyses of CHOICE-01: A phase 3 study of toripalimab versus placebo in combination with first-line chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC without EGFR/ALK mutations.
Authors: Wang Jie , Wang Zhijie , Wu Lin , Li Baolan , Cheng Ying , Li Xiaoling , Wang Xicheng , Han Liang , Wu Xiaohong , Fan Yun , Yu Yan , Lv Dongqing , Shi Jianhua , Huang Jianjin , Zhou Shaozhang , Han Baohui , Sun Guogui , Guo Qisen , Ji Youxin , Zhu Xiaoli ,   Coherus Biosciences and Shanghai Junshi Biosciences
Published: June 2022

9028

Background: Toripalimab (anti-PD-1) in combination with chemotherapy showed significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was performed to identify correlative biomarkers for survival. Methods: Patients (n = 465) with treatment-naïve, advanced NSCLC without EGFR/ALK mutations were randomized 2:1 to receive toripalimab 240 mg (n = 309) or placebo (n = 156) in combination with chemotherapy for 4-6 cycles, followed by maintenance of toripalimab or placebo plus standard care until disease progression, intolerable toxicity, or completion of 2 years of treatment. Stratification factors included PD-L1 expression status, histology, and smoking status. The primary endpoint was PFS by investigator per RECIST v1.1. Secondary endpoints included PFS by a blinded independent review committee (BIRC), OS and safety. Results: At the prespecified final PFS analysis (cutoff date Oct 31, 2021), a significant improvement in PFS as assessed by investigator was observed for the toripalimab arm over the placebo arm: HR = 0.49 (95% CI: 0.39-0.61), two-sided p < 0.0001, median PFS 8.4 vs 5.6 months. The 1-year PFS rates were 36.7% vs 17.2%. PFS as assessed by BIRC was also significantly longer in the toripalimab arm. The improvements of PFS were observed across key subgroups, including histology and PD-L1 expression. At the interim OS analysis, the toripalimab arm had a significantly longer OS than the placebo arm: HR = 0.69 (95% CI: 0.52-0.92), two-sided p = 0.0099, median OS not reached vs 17.1 months. The incidence of Grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) (78.6% vs 82.1%) was similar between the two arms. AEs leading to discontinuation of toripalimab/placebo (14.3% vs 3.2%) and fatal AEs (5.5% vs 2.6%) were more frequent in the toripalimab arm. WES results from 394 available patients revealed that patients with high tumor mutational burden (TMB) (≥10 mutations per million base pairs) were associated with significantly better PFS in the toripalimab arm over the placebo arm (median PFS 13.1 vs 5.5 months) (interaction P = 0.026). In addition, patients with mutations in the FAK-PI3K-Akt pathway or IL-7 signaling pathways achieved significantly better PFS and OS from the toripalimab chemotherapy combination (interaction P values ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: The addition of toripalimab to chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC provided superior PFS and OS when compared to chemotherapy alone with a manageable safety profile. These results support the use of toripalimab with chemotherapy as 1st line therapy for advanced NSCLC patients without EGFR/ALK mutations. Clinical trial information: NCT03856411.