ESMO: Pembrolizumab Reduces Risk of Relapse or Death by 24% in Completely Resected, Early-Stage NSCLC (KEYNOTE-091)

On March 17, ESMO Virtual Plenary Resources released the results of the PEARLS/KEYNOTE-091 (NCT02504372) study
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The KEYNOTE-091 study also used the AJCC 7th edition of the lung cancer staging system, but postoperative platinum-containing adjuvant therapy was not necessary.
The study included R0, IB stage (T ≥ 4 cm, stage II or IIIA NSCLC), 1:1 Randomized to pembrolizumab or placebo
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Baseline characteristics were balanced between groups
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In the subgroup analysis, it can be seen that the HRs of those who received adjuvant chemotherapy and those who did not receive chemotherapy were 0.

The safety profile of pembrolizumab in the study was as expected

CONCLUSIONS: Adjuvant pembrolizumab for completely resected stage IB (T ≥ 4 cm)-IIIA NSCLC patients regardless of PD-L1 expression (regardless of PD-L1 TPS <1%, 1-49%, ≥50% ) provided a statistically significant, clinically meaningful improvement in DFS