Merck has announced positive health-related quality of life (HRQoL) findings from an exploratory analysis from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-024 study investigating the use of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), the company’s anti-PD-1 therapy, compared to standard of care (SOC) platinum-containing chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express high levels of PD-L1 (tumor proportion score [TPS] of 50 percent or more). Specifically, patient-reported outcomes showed clinically meaningful improvement with KEYTRUDA compared to chemotherapy. Findings will be presented today at the 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
“The patient-reported quality of life outcomes we are seeing in the KEYNOTE-024 study are very encouraging and, coupled with previously reported clinical data from this study, including a survival benefit, are important in understanding the robust clinical profile for KEYTRUDA compared to chemotherapy,” said Dr. Roger Dansey, senior vice president and therapeutic area head, oncology late-stage development, Merck Research Laboratories.
Dr. Julie Brahmer of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center will present these findings as part of a plenary session at WCLC in Vienna, Austria at 8:45 a.m. CET (Abstract #PL04a.01).
“For people living with lung cancer, who often face serious health challenges brought on by the disease, quality of life is a major concern when determining treatment and the data presented today help us further understand the potential clinical benefit for KEYTRUDA in these patients,” said Dr. Martin Reck, head of the thoracic oncology department, LungenClinic Grosshansdorf, Germany.
The KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) clinical development program includes more than 30 tumor types in nearly 400 clinical trials, including more than 200 trials that combine KEYTRUDA with other cancer treatments. Merck has an expansive research program in NSCLC and is currently advancing multiple registration-enabling studies with KEYTRUDA as monotherapy and in combination with other treatments.