Discontinuation Rates Low in Those Taking Cemiplimab for NSCLC: Ana Baramidze, MD

Ana Baramidze, MD, head of the Department of Clinical Researches at the Todua Clinic in Tbilisi, Georgia, spoke about how clinicians can make decisions to use cemiplimab based on the patient with the hope that they'll continue to use it, as few discontinued the treatment during trials.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity; captions are auto-generated.

Transcript

In PD-L1 ≥1% patients, how do you decide between cemiplimab plus chemotherapy vs checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy?

Because cemiplimab is a PD-1 inhibitor, the expression of PD-L1 is important for treating physicians to understand and may inform whether it is used as a monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy aligned with cemiplimab indications.

What are the strategies for managing immune-related toxicities in the frontline chemoimmunotherapy setting, especially in relation to adverse events?

Safety profile [after] 5 years remain consistent with previously reported data from the trial. Also, adverse events of any grade occurred fairly consistently across both arms, with 96.5% in cemiplimab plus chemotherapy patients, and 95% in patients treated with chemotherapy alone. As you know, the grade 3 and above adverse events had more distinction between [groups at] 49% and 33% respectively. But nevertheless, discontinuation to adverse reactions were low and occurring in 4.5% and 1% of patients in the cemiplimab plus chemotherapy arm and the chemotherapy alone arm, respectively.