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Pembrolizumab in Combination with Chemotherapy in Patients with ERBB2-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

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Abstract

Background

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ERBB2) mutation is a known oncogenic driver mutation in a small proportion of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Many targeted therapies are being developed and investigated for the treatment of ERBB2-mutated NSCLC, however none of these agents have yet been approved as a front-line treatment. Thus, platinum-based chemotherapy with or without immunotherapy remains the preferred first-line therapy for ERBB2-mutated NSCLC.

Objective

We aimed to study the activity of chemotherapy in combination with pembrolizumab as first-line treatment in patients with stage IV ERBB2-mutated NSCLC.

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively identified five patients with ERBB2-mutated NSCLC treated with carboplatin, pemetrexed and pembrolizumab as first-line therapy between 2018 and 2020. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and time to next therapy (TTNT) were summarized by Kaplan–Meier methodology using R 4.0.5 with median time to event. Response rates defined by partial response (PR) or PR + stable disease (SD) and 95% Clopper–Pearson confidence interval (CI) were calculated.

Results

The median age of these five patients was 60 years and all five patients’ tumors had ERBB2 mutations—4 had exon 20 mutation and 1 had exon 23 mutation. With a median follow-up of 32 months, the median OS was 24 months, the median PFS was 9 months, and the median TTNT was 9 months. The response rate was 0.6 for PR (Clopper–Pearson exact 95% CI 0.147–0.947) and 0.8 for PR and SD (Clopper–Pearson exact 95% CI 0.284–0.995). No unexpected toxicities were observed.

Conclusion

In a small number of patients, chemotherapy and pembrolizumab as first-line therapy in ERBB2-mutated NSCLC patients demonstrated activity similar to previous reports with this regimen. Future clinical trials are needed to determine the role of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for this patient population in the context of emerging targeted agents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Cancer Institute, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA

    Fawzi Abu Rous & Shirish Gadgeel

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA

    Radhika Gutta

  3. Department of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA

    Pin Li

  4. Department of Medical Oncology, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Balazs Halmos

Authors
  1. Fawzi Abu Rous
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  2. Radhika Gutta
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  3. Pin Li
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  4. Balazs Halmos
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  5. Shirish Gadgeel
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Correspondence to Shirish Gadgeel.

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Funding

No external funding was used in the preparation of this manuscript.

Conflict of interest

Shirish Gadgeel is a member of the consulting/advisory board for Merck, Pfizer, Genentech/Roche, Astra-Zeneca, Takeda, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Dava Oncology, Blueprint, Mirati, Daichii-Sanyko, and Novartis; is a member of the independent data monitoring committee (IDMC) for Astra-Zeneca; and has received research support from Merck. Balazs Halmos has received research funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Astra-Zeneca, Merck, BMS, Advaxis, Amgen, AbbVie, Daiichi, Pfizer, GSK, Beigene, and Janssen, and has received consulting fees from Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Veracyte, Janssen, Takeda, Merck, BMS, Genentech, Pfizer, Eli-Lilly. Fawzi Abu Rous, Radhika Gutta, and Pin Li declare they have no conflicts of interest that might be relevant to the contents of this manuscript.

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Author contributions

SG and BH: Study design and manuscript review. FA and RG: Data collection and manuscript writing. PL: Statistical analysis.

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Abu Rous, F., Gutta, R., Li, P. et al. Pembrolizumab in Combination with Chemotherapy in Patients with ERBB2-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Targ Oncol 17, 187–192 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11523-022-00873-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11523-022-00873-2

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