Overall survival from a phase II randomized study of ramucirumab plus pembrolizumab versus standard of care for advanced non–small cell lung cancer previously treated with immunotherapy: Lung-MAP nonmatched substudy S1800A.
Authors: Reckamp Karen L. , Redman Mary Weber , Dragnev Konstantin H. , Villaruz Liza C , Faller Bryan A. , Al Baghdadi Tareq , Hines Susan , Qian Lu , Minichiello Katherine , Gandara David R. , Kelly Karen , Herbst Roy S. 
Published: June 2022

9004 Background: Resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy develops in most patients (pts) with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tumors that develop resistance to ICI constitute a major unmet need. Combined ICI and VEGF/VEGF receptor inhibition have shown benefit in multiple tumor types through immune modulation. We evaluated pembrolizumab and ramucirumab (P+R) in advanced, ICI-exposed NSCLC, under the aegis of Lung-MAP, a master protocol for pts with stage IV, previously treated NSCLC. Pt characteristics and treatment toxicities were presented at ASCO 2021. Methods: S1800A was a randomized phase II trial for pts ineligible for a biomarker-matched substudy with acquired resistance to ICI defined as previous ICI therapy for at least 84 days with progressive disease (PD) on or after therapy. Eligibility stipulated PD on prior platinum-based doublet therapy (sequential or in combination with ICI) and ECOG PS of 0-1. Pts were stratified by PD-L1 expression, histology, and intent to receive ramucirumab in the standard of care (SOC) arm and were randomized to P+R or SOC (investigator’s choice of docetaxel+R; docetaxel, pemetrexed, gemcitabine). With a goal of 144 total/130 eligible pts, the primary objective was to compare overall survival (OS) between the arms using a 1-sided 10% level log-rank test upon 90 deaths. Secondary endpoints included response, duration of response, investigator assessed-progression free survival and toxicity. Results: From May 17, 2019 to November 16, 2020, 166 pts were enrolled with 137 eligible (69 P+R; 68 SOC [45 +R, 23 w/o R]). Main causes for ineligibility were lack of PD on ICI or chemotherapy (6 SOC, 6 P+R), > 1 line of ICI (2 P+R), ICI discontinued due to toxicity (2 SOC), or lack of measurable disease (2 SOC, 1 P+R). OS was significantly improved with P+R (HR: 0.61 [0.38-0.97], 1-sided p-value = 0.019; median [95% CI] OS of 15.0 (13.2-17) months (mo) for P+R and 11.6 (8.5-13.8) mo in SOC arm). Progression-free survival (PFS) was not different between the arms (HR: 0.86 [0.57-1.31], 1-sided p-value=0.25; median PFS (95% CI) of 4.5 (4.0-6.9) mo for P+R and 5.2 (4.0-6.6) mo in SOC arm). ORR was not different between the arms (p=0.28). OS benefit for P+R was seen in most subgroups. Analysis of survival based on genomic alterations, tumor mutational burden and PD-L1 will be presented. Conclusions: Pembrolizumab + ramucirumab in pts with advanced NSCLC previously treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy led to improved OS compared to SOC. Discordance of ORR and PFS from OS has been reported in prior ICI trials (Rittmeyer et al. Lancet 2017). This is the first trial in the 2nd line setting without a chemotherapy backbone to demonstrate a potential survival benefit compared to SOC regimens including docetaxel and ramucirumab using the Lung-MAP platform. Clinical trial information: NCT03971474.