Differences in Toxicity Based on Race in Nonsquamous NSCLC

Nino Balanchivadze, MD, FACP, senior administrative fellow of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program at Henry Ford Cancer Institute, discusses the rationale for evaluating toxicity based on race in the KEYNOTE-189 study (NCT02578680).

The phase 3 study was created to determine the differences in the rate of renal toxicity based on race in patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 134 patients with a median age of 66.5 years and a large percentage made of males (48.5%) were examined. Additionally, 24% of the patients were Black, and the other 75.4% were White.

Findings from a retrospective analysis of the KEYNOTE-189 study showed that patients with nonsquamous NSCLC who were treated with platinum-based pemetrexed combined with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), resulted in acute kidney injury (AKI) and death in more Black American patients compared with White American patients.

Transcription:

0:08 | Prior studies have shown that compared to White Americans, Black Americans are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality associated with chronic kidney diseases. Black patients are at a 3 to 4 times higher risk of developing kidney failure compared to White patients, irrespective of cancer. Data regarding renal impairment with platinum pemetrexed and pembrolizumab treatment in Black patients is lacking.

0:40 | The main driver for our study is to investigate if there was more renal toxicity observed in Black Americans compared to white Americans that were treated with a company coming up to therapy.