Summary
Researchers tested a new drug combination in people newly diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors test positive for a marker called PD-L1. In the trial, patients received either a new drug called sacituzumab tirumotecan combined with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, or pembrolizumab by itself.
Patients who received both drugs together saw their risk of the cancer getting worse drop by 65% compared to patients who received pembrolizumab alone. Their risk of death specifically dropped by 45%. Patients on the combination also responded to treatment more often, with about 70% seeing their tumors shrink, compared to 42% of patients on pembrolizumab alone.
This benefit showed up across different patient subgroups, including those with lower and higher levels of PD-L1, and in both major subtypes of NSCLC (squamous and non-squamous).
Patients on the combination had more side effects, including a higher rate of low blood cell counts. Researchers are still tracking longer-term survival data.
This combination only works for patients whose tumors have already been tested for PD-L1. In this case, biomarker testing is the gateway to whether a patient is even offered a treatment like this one. As more combinations like this reach patients, testing early and thoroughly becomes even more important, so no one misses an option that could meaningfully change their outlook.
