Dr. Reck on the Safety of Pembrolizumab in KEYNOTE-024 in Metastatic NSCLC

Martin Reck, MD, PhD, head of the department of thoracic oncology and head of the Clinical Trial Department within the Department of Thoracic Oncology at Lung Clinic Grosshansdorf, discusses the safety profile observed with of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) versus chemotherapy in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer in the phase 3 KEYNOTE-024 trial.

Tolerability was in favor of first-line pembrolizumab (Keytruda), says Reck. The majority of immune-mediated adverse effects (imAEs) that were reported were mild to moderate, with very few patients experiencing significant or clinically relevant toxicities. The majority of these effects could be successfully controlled in most patients with the use of immune suppressive drugs, such as corticosteroids, adds Reck.

When looking at the subgroup of patients who received 2 years of pembrolizumab, no change in tolerability was observed, adds Reck. Moreover, 31.2% of patients experienced a grade 3 to 5 imAE, which was consistent with had had been reported in the initial analysis of the trial, concludes Reck.