Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dulanermin combined with paclitaxel and carboplatin (PC) and bevacizumab (PCB) as first-line treatment for advanced or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Patients and methods: Patients with squamous NSCLC and/or CNS metastases received PC every 3 weeks alone (arm 1) or with dulanermin 8 mg/kg for 5 days (arm 2). Patients with nonsquamous NSCLC received PCB alone (arm 3) or with dulanermin 8 mg/kg for 5 days (arm 4) or 20 mg/kg for 2 days (arm 5). The primary end point was the objective response rate (ORR).
Results: Overall, 213 patients were randomly assigned (arm 1, n = 41; arm 2, n = 39; arm 3, n = 42; arm 4, n = 40; arm 5, n = 41). The ORR in arms 1 to 5 was 39% (95% CI, 24% to 56%), 38% (95% CI, 24% to 54%), 50% (95% CI, 35% to 65%), 40% (95% CI, 25% to 56%), and 40% (95% CI, 25% to 56%), respectively. The odds ratio for ORR was 1.04 (P = 1.000) for arm 1 versus arm 2, 1.53 (P = .391) for arm 3 and versus arm 4, and 1.53 (P = .391) for arm 3 versus arm 5. The most common grade ≥ 3 adverse events were neutropenia, asthenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and hemoptysis. Of 161 available serum samples, a trend toward increased caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18 was observed after dulanermin treatment in cycles 1 and 2. Among 84 patients evaluated for GalNT14 expression, there was a trend toward favorable progression-free survival and overall survival with dulanermin treatment in those with high GalNT14 expression.
Conclusion: The addition of dulanermin to PC and PCB did not improve outcomes in unselected patients with previously untreated advanced or recurrent NSCLC.