A phase 1 study of fianlimab (anti–LAG-3) in combination with cemiplimab (anti–PD-1) in patients with advanced HNSCC.
Authors: Byoung Chul Cho, Omid Hamid, Xinhua Zhu, Bhumsuk Keam, John M. Kaczmar, Stephen K. Williamson, Ariel E. Birnbaum, Afshin Dowlati, Grace K. Dy, Steven Jeffrey Hager, Filipa Lynce, Raymond S. McDermott, Debashis Sarker, Amy M. Weise, Timothy A. Yap, Emrullah Yilmaz, Fang Fang, Jayakumar Mani, Glenn Scott Kroog, Kyriakos P. Papadopoulos
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

6038 Background: Concurrent blockade of LAG-3 may enhance efficacy of anti–PD-1 therapies. We present safety and clinical activity data from a Phase 1 study in patients (pts) with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) treated with anti–LAG-3 (fianlimab) + anti–PD-1 (cemiplimab). Methods: Two expansion cohorts of adult pts with recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC with no curative options who were anti–PD-1/PD-L1-naïve (cohort 11) or anti–PD-1/L1-experienced with most recent dose within 3 months (mos) prior to screening (cohort 12) were enrolled. All pts received fianlimab 1600 mg + cemiplimab 350 mg intravenously every 3 weeks (wks) for up to 24 mos. Tumor measurements were performed every 6 wks for 24 wks, then every 9 wks. Results: 15 pts each in cohort 11 and 12 (total N=30; median age: 69 years) were enrolled and treated with fianlimab + cemiplimab as of 04 Oct 2023 data cutoff.For cohorts 11 and 12 respectively, 80% and 87% of pts were male, and 53% and 80% were White. All pts had prior cancer-related systemic therapy. 33% (5/15) and 87% (13/15) of pts in cohorts 11 and 12 had ≥2 lines of prior therapies, respectively. For cohorts 11 and 12, median treatment duration was 12 wks (mean: 41 wks) and 13 wks (mean: 24 wks), and median follow-up was 12 mos and 10 mos, respectively. Grade ≥3 treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) occurred in 47% of pts each in cohorts 11 and 12. Serious TEAEs occurred in 13% and 20% of pts in cohorts 11 and 12, respectively. Treatment-related TEAEs (TRAEs) were reported in 67% of pts in cohorts 11 and 53% of pts in cohort 12. The most common TRAEs (any grade) were hypothyroidism (33%) in cohort 11; and fatigue (20%) and pneumonitis (20%) in cohort 12. Grade ≥3 TRAEs occurred in 7% of pts in cohorts 11 and 13% of pts in cohorts 12. Treatment-related immune-related AEs were reported in 47% and 40% of pts in cohorts 11 and 12, respectively. Treatment was discontinued due to any TEAE in 2 pts in cohort 12. In cohort 12, there was one death due to grade 5 respiratory failure attributable to aspiration pneumonia. RECIST 1.1-based investigator-assessed objective response rate (ORR) was 33% (5 partial responses [PRs]) in cohort 11 and 7% (1 PR) in cohort 12. The disease control rate (DCR) was 47% and 67% in cohorts 11 and 12, respectively. Kaplan–Meier estimation of median progression-free survival was 2 mos (95% CI, 1–14) in cohort 11 and 4 mos (95% CI, 1–7) in cohort 12 pts. Duration of responses were 17, 10, 20, 22, and 20 mos in 5 responders in cohort 11; and 32 mos in 1 responder in cohort 12. Estimated event-free probability at 12 month was 33% (95% CI, 12–56) in cohort 11 and 16% (95% CI, 3–40) in cohort 12 pts. Conclusions: Fianlimab + cemiplimab in pts with HNSCC showed signs of clinical activity with durable responses among pts with anti–PD-1/PD-L1-naïve (cohort 11) and anti–PD-1/L1-experienced (cohort 12), with an acceptable safety profile which warrants further investigation. Clinical trial information: NCT03005782 .