Efficacy of ramucirumab combination chemotherapy as second-line treatment in patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction after exposure to checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy as first-line therapy

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Michael Masetti - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • Salah Eddin Al-Batran - , Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt am Main (Author)
  • Thorsten O. Goetze - , Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt am Main (Author)
  • Peter Thuss-Patience - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Jorge Riera Knorrenschild - , University Hospital Gießen and Marburg (Author)
  • Eray Goekkurt - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Gunnar Folprecht - , Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Thomas Jens Ettrich - , Ulm University (Author)
  • Udo Lindig - , Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Author)
  • Kim Barbara Luley - , Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein - Campus Lübeck (Author)
  • Daniel Pink - , University of Greifswald (Author)
  • Tobias Dechow - , Ravensburg Oncology | Hematology (Author)
  • Disorn Sookthai - , Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt am Main (Author)
  • Sabine Junge - , Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt am Main (Author)
  • Maria Loose - , Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt am Main (Author)
  • Claudia Pauligk - , Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt am Main (Author)
  • Sylvie Lorenzen - , Technical University of Munich (Author)

Abstract

FOLFOX plus nivolumab represents a standard of care for first-line therapy of advanced gastroesophageal cancer (aGEC) with positive PD-L1 expression. The efficacy of second-line VEGFR-2 inhibition with ramucirumab (RAM) plus chemotherapy after progression to immunochemotherapy remains unclear. Medical records of patients with aGEC enrolled in the randomized phase II AIO-STO-0417 trial after treatment failure to first-line FOLFOX plus nivolumab and ipilimumab were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups based on second-line therapy: RAM plus chemotherapy (RAM group) or treatment without RAM (control group). Eighty three patients were included. In the overall population, progression-free survival (PFS) in the RAM group was superior to the control (4.5 vs 2.9 months). Responders (CR/PR) to first-line immunochemotherapy receiving RAM containing second-line therapy had prolonged OS from start of first-line therapy (28.9 vs 16.5 months), as well as second-line OS (9.6 vs 7.5 months), PFS (5.6 vs 2.9 months) and DCR (53% vs 29%) compared to the control. PD-L1 CPS ≥1 was 42% and 44% for the RAM and the control, respectively. Patients with CPS ≥1 in the RAM group showed better tumor control (ORR 25% vs 10%) and improved survival (total OS 11.5 vs 8.0 months; second-line OS 6.5 vs 3.9 months; PFS 4.5 vs 1.6 months) compared to the control. Prior exposure to first-line FOLFOX plus dual checkpoint inhibition followed by RAM plus chemotherapy shows favorable response and survival rates especially in patients with initial response and positive PD-L1 expression and has the potential to advance the treatment paradigm in aGEC.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2142-2150
Number of pages9
JournalInternational journal of cancer
Volume154
Issue number12
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38447003
ORCID /0000-0002-9321-9911/work/172086214

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • anti-VEGFR-2 therapy, antiangiogenic treatment, gastroesophageal cancer, immunotherapy, ramucirumab