Adverse events leading to discontinuation were similar between the groups, at 9% and 9.4%, respectively.
There were more immune-mediated adverse events in the pembrolizumab arm (27.8% vs. 7.2%), and of these, grade 3 or greater events occurred in 8% vs. 1.5% of patients, respectively.
There was one immune-mediated death, from pneumonitis, in the immunotherapy arm; there were no deaths related to immune-mediated side effects in the chemotherapy arm.
“I really view this as a ‘double whammy’ for patients,” Dr. Heymach said at the briefing. “Often advances in survival for our lung cancer patients come at the cost of significant toxicities. Here, by contrast, not only are patients living longer and having a much higher likelihood of prolonged survival in years, often instead of months, but they’re also receiving a treatment that has substantially less toxicity across virtually all measures, and this really impacts the day-to-day life of these patients.”