Astrazeneca presents its advances in lung cancer at ASCO

Astrazeneca advances its ambition to redefine cancer treatment with new data from its industry pipeline at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, May 31-June 4, 2024.

More than 100 abstracts will present 25 new drugs approved and potentials from the company’s diverse oncology product portfolio, including two late-breaking plenary presentations, a special session late-breaking of abstracts and 15 oral presentations.

Among the most notable are:

• LAURAPhase III trial of osimertinib in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRm) mutation after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) (Plenaria LBA4).

• ADRIATICphase III trial of durvalumab in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who had not progressed after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) (Plenaria LBA5).

• DESTINY-Breast06Phase III trial of trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with HR-positive, HER2-low (IHC 1+ or 2+/ISH-) or HER2 ultra-low (IHC >0<1+) metastatic breast cancer compared to choice of the investigator's chemotherapy after two previous lines of endocrine therapy or after disease progression during the first six months of first line (endocrine therapy + CDK4/6 inhibitor).

• First human trialInvestigator-initiated study of C-CAR031, a novel autologous Glypican 3 (GPC3)-shielded chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cell therapy, in patients with liver cancer. CAR T is based on AZD5851, a new cell therapy designed by Astrazeneca (Rapid Oral Abstract 4019).

• Two late-breaking presentations of the externally sponsored phase II I-SPY2.2 trial of neoadjuvant datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), alone and in combination with durvalumab, in patients with breast cancer (LBA501 and LBA509).

Treatment for lung cancer

“Our data presented in plenary at ASCO show the role of our medications in the lung cancer treatment with curative intent, and highlight progress towards our continued ambition to have a medicine for more than half of patients treated for lung cancer by 2030. The efficacy of the LAURA trial will add to the body of evidence for osimertinib in non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutation, and ADRIATIC survival data could show the durvalumab potential with its results in limited-stage small cell lung cancer,” says Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president of Astrazeneca’s Oncology Business Unit.

For her part, Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President of Oncology R&D at Astrazeneca, highlights that “the data from the conjugated antibodies at ASCO highlight the opportunity that traditional chemotherapy could be replaced by these drugs for many patients as they we expand its use to new populations“: “DESTINY-Breast06 results will demonstrate the potential of treating patients across a broader spectrum of conditions with trastuzumab deruxtecan. metastatic breast cancer HER2-positive, including those with HER2-low expression who have never before had access to HER2-targeted therapy. We are also excited about the I SPY2.2 efficacy and tolerability data of datopotamab deruxtecan plus durvalumab, which will show the potential of the combination of antibodies conjugated with immunotherapy in the initial phase“.

“For yet another year, at ASCO, we present data that demonstrates Astrazeneca’s ambition to revolutionize oncology care and provide alternatives to specialists. For the sixth consecutive year, we present data in a plenary session, which demonstrates the strength of our science. We will continue investigating to achieve our goal of making cancer chronic and one day eliminating it as a cause of death,” emphasizes Laura Colón, director of Oncology at Astrazeneca Spain.

Astrazeneca presentations at ASCO

Forming part of the improvements in treatment expectations in the early stages of lung cancer

Several presentations will reinforce the company’s progress in moving lung cancer treatment to earliest stages of the disease. Among them are:

• A late-breaking plenary presentation in which the progression-free survival results (PFS) of the phase III LAURA trial, evaluating osimertinib in unresectable stage III EGFRm NSCLC after CRT. In February, results showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful PFS benefit for osimertinib in this setting.

• A late-breaking plenary presentation highlighting overall survival (OS) and PFS results from the Phase III trial Durvalumab ADRIATIC in patients with SCLC-EL who had not progressed after cRTC. In April, results from an interim analysis showed a statistically and clinically significant benefit of durvalumab for OS and PFS in this setting.

• An oral presentation of an analysis of the phase III ADAURA trial of osimertinib in adjuvant treatment of EGFRm NSCLC in early stages (IB, II and IIIA), in which the potential of molecular residual disease based on circulating tumor DNA to predict disease recurrence was evaluated.

• A rapid oral presentation of an exploratory analysis of the AEGEAN phase III trial of the Durvalumab-based treatment before and after surgery in patients with early-stage resectable NSCLC (IIA-IIIB), evaluating efficacy in patients with N2 disease (cancer in the lymph nodes on the same side as the affected lung or between the lungs).

• A poster presentation of updated OS, PFS, and safety results from the COAST phase II trial of durvalumab in combination with new immunotherapies oleclumab, an anti-CD73 monoclonal antibody, and monalizumab, an anti-NKG2A monoclonal antibody, in unresectable stage III NSCLC, in support of the phase III PACIFIC-9 trial in this patient population.

In metastatic lung cancer, the company will present data that underscores its commitment to extending benefits of conjugated antibodies (ADC) to more patients. Poster will present updated safety and efficacy results, including PD-L1 expression, from the Phase Ib TROPION-Lung02 trial of datopotamab deruxtecan plus pembrolizumab with or without platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC without actionable genomic alterations. These data build on previously presented results from the Phase III TROPION-Lung01 trial, which demonstrate the potential potential of this novel ADC in advanced disease. Datopotamab deruxtecan in combination with immunotherapies is being explored in multiple Phase III trials in this setting, including ADVANCE, TROPION-Lung07 and TROPION-Lung08.