AstraZeneia's Imfinzi failed to improve the overall survival rate of patients with head and neck cancer

In the second trial, AstraZeneca's Imfinzi failed to improve the overall survival of patients with relapsed or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) (OS).
update to Imfinzi's KESTREL PHASE III clinical trial found that in HNSCC patients with high levels of PD-L1, Imfinzi (durvalumab) did not improve OS compared to chemotherapy-combined sytoxidotherapy.
combination of Imfinzi and CTLA-4 targeted antibody tremelimumab also failed to improve OS in patients.
, executive vice president of AstraZeneta's Oncology business unit, said: "Metastatic head and neck cancer is a complex and challenging disease with poor prognostics.
while we are disappointed with these results, the experience from the KESTREL Phase III trial will enhance our understanding of immunotherapy."
, Imfinzi also failed to show benefits in HNSCC patients in the 2018 EAGLE Phase III trial.
EAGLE Phase III trial evaluated patients with relapsed or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) progression after treatment with platinum chemotherapy with Imfinzi monotherapy or Imfinzi combined tremelimumab, and showed that imfinzi monotherapy and imfinzi combined treatment withtreimumab did not improve OS compared to standard chemotherapy (SoC) regardless of patient PD-L1 levels.