Roche’s Tecentriq Benefits Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Roche recently announced that Tecentriq elicited disease-free survival in patients with Stage II-IIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Data from the IMpower010 trial, published in The Lancet, found that Tecentriq administered after surgery and chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death by 34 percent in individuals with Stage II-IIA NSCLC whose tumors expressed PD-L1 greater than one percent. 

Researchers noted higher benefit with Tecentriq in individuals with PD-L1 expression greater than or equal to 50 percent. Additionally, time to relapse improved with Tecentriq compared to standard of care.

“Today more than half of all people with early-stage NSCLC experience recurrence following surgery,” Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, chief medical officer and head of global product development at Genentech, said in the announcement. 

“IMpower010 shows how, for the first time, a cancer immunotherapy may help many of these patients live longer without their disease returning. The data further contributes to our understanding of Tecentriq in this treatment setting,” Garraway continued. 

About 1.8 million people die annually from lung cancer. And NSCLC is the most prevalent type of cancer, accounting for nearly 85 percent of all cases.

Tecentriq has previously shown clinically meaningful benefit in various types of lung cancer, with five currently approved indications in markets worldwide. 

In May 2020, FDA approved Tecentriq for adult patients with metastatic NSCLC. Tecentriq was the fourth indication in metastatic NSCLC and the fifth indication in lung cancer overall in the US.

And most recently, FDA accepted Roche’s biologics license application and granted priority review to Tecentriq as an adjuvant treatment following surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy for individuals living with NSCLC.  

The agency based its decision on disease-free survival results from an interim analysis of the IMpower010 study. The study will continue to analyze the recurrence of death and survival data in the overall population, including Stage IB patients. 

Currently, FDA is reviewing the biologics license application under the Real-Time Oncology Review pilot program and expects to decide on approval of the drug by December 2021.