EMPOWER-Lung 1 Trial Data Showcase Promise of Cemiplimab in NSCLC

One of the prevailing topics being woven throughout the 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer is immunotherapy. As was such in a presentation led by Ana Baramidze, MD, PhD, Todua Clinic, Tbilisi, Georgia, who provided insights into the EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial. This study investigated 5-year outcomes associated with cemiplimab—a PD-L1 inhibitor—monotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with lower expression of PD-L1.

In this interview with The American Journal of Managed Care^®, Baramidze elaborates on the study’s key findings and outlines the patient characteristics most important for a clinician to consider ahead of initiating treatment with cemiplimab.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Transcript

What do the 5-year outcomes of the EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial reveal about the long-term efficacy and safety of cemiplimab monotherapy? Are there any new insights or unexpected findings from this extended follow-up?

EMPOWER-Lung 1 is a trial that investigated the efficacy and the safety of the cemiplimab PD-L1 inhibitor in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer. Five-year outcomes provide valuable insight into the long-term effects of the treatment, and the 5-year follow-up data generally showed that cemiplimab monotherapy continues to provide significant long-term survival benefits. In terms of safety profile, cemiplimab still remains consistent with earlier reporting and the new treatment related-adverse events are generally manageable. The key findings were: We have seen the durability of response, and the patients who initially responded well to cemiplimab often continued to benefit from the treatment.

In summary, I can say that the 5-year outcomes from the EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial reinforce the long-term efficacy of cemiplimab monotherapy, and it highlighted its potential for durable responses and manageable long-term safety. So, this finding further supports the availability of this treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, advanced or metastatic.

How should clinicians approach patient selection for cemiplimab monotherapy in advanced NSCLC? Are there additional biomarkers or patient characteristics that could further refine eligibility or predict response?

Based on the outcomes of EMPOWER-Lung 1, clinicians should consider several key factors when selecting the patient for the cemiplimab monotherapy in advanced non–small cell lung cancer. But the key biomarker is PD-L1 expression for predicting the response. So, higher PD-L1 expression levels in tumor cells correlate with better response to cemiplimab.