Dr. Rugo on Overall Survival With First-Line Pembrolizumab in Metastatic TNBC

Hope S. Rugo, MD, professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), director, Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education, University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the overall survival (OS) data with first-line pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus chemotherapy as a treatment for patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), as reported in the phase 3 KEYNOTE-355 trial (NCT02819518).

In patients who received pembrolizumab, the OS was improved significantly, according to Rugo. The difference was almost 7 months, going from 16.1 to 23 months, with a hazard ratio of 0.73, or a relative improvement of 27%, and a P value of .0093, Rugo explains.

In the landmark analysis, which looked at data at 18 and 24 months, the differences were compelling, given that the median OS in the control population was 16 months, Rugo says. At 24 months, 34% of patients were alive in the control population, and 48.2% of patients in the pembrolizumab arm who had a CPS of 10 or higher were alive, Rugo concludes.