Progression-free and overall survival significantly longer for patients with persistent, recurrent, metastatic cervical cancer<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
TUESDAY, Sept. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — For patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer who are receiving chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab, progression-free and overall survival is significantly longer with pembrolizumab versus placebo, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/em> to coincide with the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology, held virtually from Sept. 16 to 21.<\/p>\n Nicoletta Colombo, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Milan-Bicocca and European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, and colleagues examined the relative benefit of adding pembrolizumab to platinum-based chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab in a double-blind, phase 3 trial. Patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer were randomly assigned to receive either pembrolizumab or placebo every three weeks.<\/p>\n The researchers found that median progression-free survival was 10.4 and 8.2 months in the pembrolizumab and placebo groups among 548 patients with a programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score of 1 or more (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.62). Progression-free survival was 10.4 and 8.2 months, respectively, in the 617 patients in the intention-to-treat population (hazard ratio, 0.65) and 10.4 and 8.1 months, respectively, among 317 patients with a PD-L1 combined positive score of 10 or more (hazard ratio, 0.58). At 24 months, in the pembrolizumab and placebo groups, respectively, overall survival was 53.0 and 41.7 percent for patients with a PD-L1 combined positive score of 1 or more (hazard ratio for death, 0.64); 50.4 and 40.4 percent in the intention-to-treat population (hazard ratio, 0.67); and 54.4 and 44.6 percent for patients with PD-L1 combined positive score of 10 or more (hazard ratio, 0.61).<\/p>\n “All survival curves began to separate in favor of the pembrolizumab group at approximately month three and continued to diverge over time,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, which manufactures pembrolizumab and funded the study.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n