Pembrolizumab/Lenvatinib Combo Achieves Promising Responses in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

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Christine Dierks, MD, discusses the results from the prospective phase 2 ATLEP study of lenvatinib in combination with pembrolizumab as treatment of patients with metastatic anaplastic or poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Christine Dierks, MD, senior physician, University Hospital Freilburg, Germany, discusses the results from the prospective phase 2 ATLEP study of lenvatinib (Lenvima) in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as treatment of patients with metastatic anaplastic or poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

In this study, 4 out of 8 patients achieved a complete response (CR) with the combination, and of the 4 patients, 3 are still alive, says Dierks. All patients who achieved a CR had anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

Biomarkers observed in this small cohort of good responses included high PD-L1 status and increased tumor mutational burden. The median progression-free survival was 17.75 months, and the median overall survival is 19 months. The longest duration of treatment was 40 months in 1 patient, and 3 patients remained alive, receiving pembrolizumab monotherapy as the lenvatinib is stopped on the study when responses are achieved.

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