Dr. Spicer on Outcomes from the CheckMate-816 Trial in NSCLC

Jonathan Spicer, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, Dr. Ray Chiu Distinguished Scientist in Surgical Research; program director, Advanced Thoracic and Upper GI Surgical Oncology Fellowship; site lead, Rossy Cancer Network Lung Cancer Disease; and attending surgeon, Division of Thoracic and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery, McGill University, discusses the efficacy observed with neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). 

Over 150 centers participated in the CheckMate-816 trial (NCT02998528), which examined the use of neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in patients with newly diagnosed, resectable, stage IB-IIA NSCLC. On the trial, patients underwent surgery within 6 weeks of treatment and then were given the option of receiving adjuvant chemoradiation.

Results from the study showed equivalent rates of adverse effects between the arms. Moreover, patients who received chemotherapy plus nivolumab experienced more lobectomies, fewer pneumonectomies, and a higher rate of minimally invasive surgeries, Spicer explains. The 90-day mortality from pneumonectomy is approximately 9% vs 2% to 4% with lobectomy, according to Spicer. The safety and surgical outcome data reported thus far from the trial support the use of chemotherapy plus nivolumab as a neoadjuvant option in this population, Spicer concludes.