No improvement seen in two-year progression-free survival for radiotherapy with durvalumab versus radiotherapy with cetuximab<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
MONDAY, Dec. 9, 2024 (HealthDay News) — For patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with a contraindication for cisplatin, radiotherapy with adjuvant durvalumab does not improve outcomes over radiotherapy with cetuximab, according to a study published online in the December issue of The Lancet Oncology<\/em>.<\/p>\n Loren K. Mell, M.D., from the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, and colleagues conducted a randomized phase 2\/phase 3 trial to examine whether radiotherapy with concurrent and adjuvant durvalumab would improve outcomes compared to radiotherapy with cetuximab among eligible patients with stage III to IVB p16-negative HNSCC or unfavorable stage I to III p16-positive oropharyngeal or unknown primary carcinoma with a contraindication to cisplatin.<\/p>\n The researchers of the phase 2 trial randomly assigned 186 patients: 123 to durvalumab and 63 to cetuximab. Following an interim futility analysis, phase 2 accrual was suspended and then permanently closed. The phase 3 part of the trial was not performed. The researchers found that at a median follow-up of 2.3 years, two-year progression-free survival was 50.6 and 63.7 percent in the durvalumab and cetuximab groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 1.33; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.84 to 2.12). The groups had similar adverse events.<\/p>\n “The final phase 2 results did not show a statistically significant signal of efficacy of durvalumab and radiotherapy,” the authors write. “These findings are consistent with the results of other trials indicating a lack of benefit of immune checkpoint inhibitors compared with cetuximab in patients with HNSCC who are ineligible for cisplatin.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, which manufactures durvalumab and partially funded the study.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n