Roche announced that the European Commission has approved Tecentriq (atezolizumab) as a first-line (initial) treatment for adults with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumours have high PD-L1 expression, with no epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) genomic tumour aberrations.
“We are delighted to bring Tecentriq to people in the EU with this specific type of lung cancer,” said Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., Roche’s chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. “Tecentriq monotherapy has been shown to improve overall survival in people with high PD-L1 expression, when compared to chemotherapy, and therefore represents a new treatment option for people living with this difficult-to-treat disease.”
Tecentriq is now the first and only single-agent cancer immunotherapy with three dosing options, allowing administration every two, three or four weeks, giving physicians and patients greater flexibility on how they manage their treatment.
This approval is based on data from the phase III IMpower110 study, which showed that Tecentriq monotherapy improved overall survival (OS) by 7.1 months compared with chemotherapy (median OS=20.2 versus 13.1 months; hazard ratio [HR] =0.59, 95% CI: 0.40–0.89; p=0.0106) in people with high PD-L1 expression (TC3 or IC3-wild-type [WT]). Safety for Tecentriq was consistent with its known safety profile, with no new safety signals identified. Grade 3–4 treatment-related adverse events were reported in 12.9% of people receiving Tecentriq, compared with 44.1% of people receiving chemotherapy.
Tecentriq has shown clinically meaningful benefit in various types of lung cancer, with five currently approved indications in markets around the world. In Europe, Tecentriq now has four approved indications in NSCLC, including as a single agent or in combination with targeted therapies and/or chemotherapies. It was also the first approved cancer immunotherapy for the first-line treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in combination with carboplatin and etoposide (chemotherapy).
IMpower110 study is a phase III, randomised, open-label study evaluating the efficacy and safety of Tecentriq monotherapy compared with cisplatin or carboplatin and pemetrexed or gemcitabine (chemotherapy) in PD-L1-selected, chemotherapy-naïve participants with Stage IV non-squamous or squamous NSCLC.
The study enrolled 572 people, of whom 554 were in the intention-to-treat WT population, which excluded people with EGFR or ALK genomic tumour aberrations, and were randomised 1:1 to receive Tecentriq monotherapy, until disease progression (or loss of clinical benefit, as assessed by the investigator), unacceptable toxicity or death; or Cisplatin or carboplatin (per investigator discretion) combined with either pemetrexed (non-squamous) or gemcitabine (squamous), followed by maintenance therapy with pemetrexed alone (non-squamous) or best supportive care until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity or death.
PD-L1 is a protein expressed on tumour cells and tumour-infiltrating cells, which suppresses the immune response and enables tumour cells to avoid detection by binding to proteins on the surface of immune cells. Immunotherapies such as Tecentriq block PD-L1 from binding to immune cells, allowing the immune system to detect and destroy tumour cells. In IMpower110, patients were classified as PD-L1 high if they had PD-L1 on at least 50% of tumour cells or if PD-L1 expressing tumour-infiltrating cells were covering at least 10% of the tumour area.
Lung cancer is the one of the leading causes of cancer death globally. Each year 1.8 million people die as a result of the disease; this translates into more than 4,900 deaths worldwide every day. Lung cancer can be broadly divided into two major types: NSCLC and SCLC. NSCLC is the most prevalent type, accounting for around 85% of all cases. NSCLC comprises non-squamous and squamous-cell lung cancer, the squamous form of which is characterised by flat cells covering the airway surface when viewed under a microscope.
Tecentriq is a monoclonal antibody designed to bind with a protein called Programmed Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1), which is expressed on tumour cells and tumour-infiltrating immune cells, blocking its interactions with both PD-1 and B7.1 receptors. By inhibiting PD-L1, Tecentriq may enable the activation of T-cells.
