Study of Pembrolizumab Given With Ipilimumab or Placebo in Participants With Untreated Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) (MK-3475-598/KEYNOTE-598)

Phase 3

Completed

Conditions: Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung

Registration Number: NCT03302234

Lead Sponsor: Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

Brief Summary: The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of pembrolizumab given in combination with either ipilimumab or placebo as first-line treatment in participants with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The primary hypothesis of this study is that overall survival (OS) and/or progression-free survival (PFS) is prolonged in participants who receive pembrolizumab and ipilimumab compared to those who receive pembrolizumab and placebo.

With Amendment 6 (effective date: 11-Dec-2020), active participants, investigator, and sponsor personnel or delegate(s) involved in the treatment administration or clinical evaluation of the participants will be unblinded. Participants will discontinue ipilimumab and placebo and participants who remain on treatment will receive open-label pembrolizumab only.

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 568

Inclusion Criteria

Has a histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of Stage IV metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (American Joint Committee on Cancer version 8)
Has measurable disease per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) as determined by investigator
Has Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1
Has a life expectancy of at least 3 months
Has provided archival tumor tissue sample or newly obtained core or excisional biopsy of a tumor lesion not previously irradiated
Female participants of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study therapy
Female participants of reproductive potential must agree to use contraception starting from the first dose of study medication, throughout the study period, and for up to 120 days after the last dose of study medication

Exclusion Criteria

Has received prior systemic chemotherapy/other targeted or biological antineoplastic therapy treatment for their Stage IV metastatic NSCLC
Has a tumor that harbors an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-sensitizing (activating) mutation or an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation
Is currently participating in or has participated in a trial of an investigational agent or has used an investigational device within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of study therapy
Has received prior therapy with an anti-Programmed Cell Death Receptor 1 (PD-1), anti-Programmed Cell Death Receptor Ligand 1 (anti-PD-L1), or anti- Programmed Cell Death Receptor Ligand 2 (PD-L2) agent or with an agent directed to another stimulatory or co-inhibitory T-cell receptor (eg, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 [CTLA-4], OX-40, CD137)
Has received prior radiotherapy within 2 weeks of start of study therapy or received lung radiation therapy of >30 Gray (Gy) within 6 months of the first dose of study therapy
Has recovered from all radiation-related toxicities, does not require corticosteroids, and has not had radiation pneumonitis
Is receiving systemic steroid therapy ≤7 days prior to the first dose of study therapy or receiving any other form of immunosuppressive medication
Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or has required active treatment within the past 3 years with the exception of curatively treated basal cell carcinoma of the skin, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin and/or curatively resected in situ cancers
Has known untreated central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis
Has an active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in past 2 years (i.e., with use of disease-modifying agents, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressive drugs)
Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving chronic systemic steroid therapy (i.e., doses exceeding 10 mg daily of prednisone equivalent) or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior the first dose of study therapy
Has a history of (non-infectious) pneumonitis that required systemic steroids or current pneumonitis/interstitial lung disease
Has had an allogeneic tissue/solid organ transplant
Has received a live vaccine within 30 days prior to the first dose of study therapy
Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy
Has a known history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
Has a known history of hepatitis B or known active hepatitis C virus infection
Has a known history of active tuberculosis
Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperating with the requirements of the trial
Is a regular user of any illicit drugs or had a recent history of substance abuse
Is pregnant or breast feeding or expecting to conceive starting from the first dose of study medication, throughout the study period, and for up to 120 days after the last dose of study medication
Has severe hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab and/or any of its excipients and/or to ipilimumab and/or any of its excipients
Has a c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) mutation

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Overall Survival (OS)	Up to approximately 32 months (through data cut-off date: 01 Sep 2020)	OS was defined as the time from randomization to death due to any cause. Participants without documented death at the time of analysis were censored at the date of last known contact. The median survival (in months) and the associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported using Kaplan-Meier method was used. Cox regression model with Efron's method of tie handling with treatment as a covariate stratified by ECOG performance status (0 versus 1), geographic region of the enrolling site (East Asia versus non-East Asia), and predominant tumor history (squamous versus non-squamous) was used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CIs for first course study treatment per protocol.
Progression-free Survival (PFS) Per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) Based on Blinded Independent Central Review (BICR)	Up to approximately 32 months (through data cut-off date 01 Sep 2020)	PFS was defined as the time from randomization to the first documented disease progression (PD) per RECIST 1.1 based on BICR or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first. PD is defined as ≥20% increase in sum of diameters of target lesions. In addition to relative increase of 20%, sum must also demonstrate an absolute increase of ≥5 mm. The appearance of one or more new lesions is also considered PD. RECIST 1.1 has been modified to follow a maximum of 10 target lesions and a maximum of 5 target lesions per organ. The median survival (in months) and associated 95% CIs were reported using Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression model with Efron's method of tie handling with treatment as covariate stratified by ECOG performance status (0 vs. 1), geographic region of the enrolling site (East Asia vs. non-East Asia), and predominant tumor history (squamous vs. non-squamous) was used to estimate HR and 95% CIs for first course study treatment per protocol.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Objective Response Rate (ORR) Per RECIST 1.1 Based on BICR	Up to approximately 32 months (data cut-off date 01 Sep 2020)	ORR was defined as the percentage of participants who have a Complete Response (CR: Disappearance of all target lesions) or a Partial Response (PR: At least a 30% decrease in the sum of diameters of target lesions) per RECIST 1.1 by BICR. In this study, RECIST 1.1 was modified to follow a maximum of 10 target lesions and a maximum of 5 target lesions per organ. Per protocol the ORR was calculated using the Miettinen \& Nurminen method stratified by ECOG performance status (0 versus 1), geographic region of the enrolling site (East Asia versus non-East Asia), and predominant tumor history (squamous versus non-squamous) for the first course of study treatment.
Time to True Deterioration (TTD) in Cough, Pain in Chest, and Shortness of Breath	Up to approximately 32 months (data cut-off date 01 Sep 2020)	TTD was defined as the time to the first onset of a 10-point or greater score deterioration from baseline in any one of the 3 symptoms (cough, pain in chest or shortness of breath), confirmed by a second adjacent 10-point or greater score deterioration from baseline. Cough was based on EORTC QLQ-LC13 question 1, pain in chest was based on EORTC QLQ-LC13 question 10, and shortness of breath was based on EORTC QLQ-C30 question 8. Per protocol, TTD was reported for first course study treatment.
Number of Participants Who Experienced an Adverse Event (AE)	Up to approximately 27 months	An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant or clinical investigation participant administered a pharmaceutical product and which does not necessarily have to have a causal relationship with this treatment. An AE can therefore be any unfavourable and unintended sign (including an abnormal laboratory finding, for example), symptom, or disease temporally associated with the use of a medicinal product or protocol specified procedure, whether or not considered related to the medicinal product or protocol specified procedure. Per protocol, the number of participants who experienced an AE were reported for the first course of study treatment and follow up.
Change From Baseline in European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) Global Health Status/Quality of Life (Items 29 and 30) Scale Score to Week 18	Baseline, Week 18	The EORTC QLQ-C30 is a questionnaire to assess the overall quality of life of cancer patients. Participant responses to the questions "How would you rate your overall health during the past week?" and "How would you rate your overall quality of life during the past week?" were scored on a 7-point scale (1= Very poor to 7=Excellent). Using linear transformation, raw scores were standardized, so that scores range from 0 to 100. A higher score indicates a better overall health status. Per protocol, the change from baseline in EORTC QLQ-C30 Items 29 and 30 combined score were presented for first course study treatment.
Duration of Response (DOR) Per RECIST 1.1 Based on BICR	Up to approximately 32 months (data cut-off date 01 Sep 2020)	For participants who demonstrated a confirmed CR (Disappearance of all target lesions) or confirmed PR (At least a 30% decrease in the sum of diameters of target lesions) per RECIST 1.1, DOR was defined as the time from first documented evidence of CR or PR until PD or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first. Per RECIST 1.1, PD was defined as at least a 20% increase in the sum of diameters of target lesions. In addition to the relative increase of 20%, the sum must also have demonstrated an absolute increase of at least 5 mm. The appearance of one or more new lesions was also considered PD. RECIST 1.1 was modified to follow a maximum of 10 target lesions and a maximum of 5 target lesions per organ. The DOR was calculated using the product-limit (Kaplan-Meier) method for censored data. Per protocol, the DOR for all participants who experienced a CR or PR was presented for the first course of study treatment.
Number of Participants Who Discontinued Study Treatment Due to an AE	Up to approximately 24 months	An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant or clinical investigation participant administered a pharmaceutical product and which does not necessarily have to have a causal relationship with this treatment. An AE can therefore be any unfavourable and unintended sign (including an abnormal laboratory finding, for example), symptom, or disease temporally associated with the use of a medicinal product or protocol specified procedure, whether or not considered related to the medicinal product or protocol specified procedure. Per protocol, the number of participants who discontinued study treatment due to an AE were reported for the first course of study treatment.

Trial Locations

Locations (187): Mayo Clinic Cancer Center ( Site 0007)
🇺🇸
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Disney Family Cancer Center ( Site 0035)
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Burbank, California, United States
Pacific Cancer Care ( Site 0001)
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Monterey, California, United States
John Wayne Cancer Institute ( Site 0021)
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Santa Monica, California, United States
Florida Hospital Cancer Institute ( Site 0009)
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Orlando, Florida, United States
Mercy Health-Paducah Medical Oncology and Hematology ( Site 0018)
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Paducah, Kentucky, United States
New England Cancer Specialists ( Site 0019)
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Scarborough, Maine, United States
Boston Medical Center ( Site 0025)
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Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center ( Site 0020)
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Burlington, Massachusetts, United States
Holy Name Medical Center ( Site 0022)
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Teaneck, New Jersey, United States
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Mayo Clinic Cancer Center ( Site 0007)
🇺🇸Phoenix, Arizona, United States