Pembrolizumab logs 37% improvement in event-free survival in triple-negative breast cancer

Reuters Health - 09/02/2022 - Supplemental results from the KEYNOTE-522 trial show that event-free survival at 36 months is 37% better when early triple-negative breast cancer is treated both before and after surgery with Merck's pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone.

The rate with the drug, which Merck sells under the brand name Keytruda, was 84.5% versus 76.8% for placebo recipients (P<0.001).

"The results of this trial support the use of pembrolizumab plus platinum-, taxane-, and anthracycline-containing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab after surgery, as a treatment regimen for patients with high-risk, early triple-negative breast cancer, regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression status," Dr. Peter Schmid of Bart's Cancer Institute in London and colleagues conclude in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In 2020, the researchers reported that the drug produced a significantly better pathological complete response.

All 1,174 trial participants had untreated stage-II or -III disease.

The authors say the adverse events were consistent with known problems associated with both chemotherapy and pembrolizumab.

Merck paid for the study. The results were originally released July 15.

SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3oskFiq The New England Journal of Medicine, online February 9, 2022.

By Reuters Staff



Posted on 9 February 20227 April 2022