INTRODUCTION

This study evaluated adebrelimab (a programmed death-ligand 1 antibody) plus nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin as perioperative treatment for resectable NSCLC.

METHODS

Eligible patients had resectable stage II to III NSCLCs without driver gene. Patients received neoadjuvant treatment with three cycles of intravenous adebrelimab (20 mg/kg on day 1), nab-paclitaxel (100 mg/m on days 1, 8, and 15), and carboplatin (area under the curve 5 mg/mL per min on day 1), of each 21-day cycle before surgical resection, and followed by 16 cycles of adebrelimab (20 mg/kg on day 1 in 3 wk) adjuvant treatment. The primary end point was major pathologic response (MPR) per blinded independent pathologic review.

RESULTS

A total of 37 patients were enrolled and received planned neoadjuvant therapy. There were 34 patients (91.9%) who underwent surgery. As of data cutoff on January 25, 2022, 19 of the 37 patients (51.4%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 35.9-66.6) achieved MPR per blinded independent pathologic review and 11 patients (29.7%, 95% CI: 17.5-45.8) achieved pathologic complete response. Furthermore, 26 patients (70.3%, 95% CI: 54.2-82.5) had an objective response per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. The 12-month event-free survival rate was 77.8% (95% CI: 54.1-90.3). In addition, 29 patients (78.4%) had grade greater than or equal to three treatment-related adverse events (AEs) and nine (24.3%) had treatment-related serious AEs. No treatment-related deaths occurred. Grade greater than or equal to three surgery-related AEs within 30 or 90 days after surgery were both reported in five patients (14.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

Adebrelimab plus nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin as perioperative therapy led to a substantial proportion of MPR and high resectability, with manageable toxicities. On the basis of the phase 1b results, phase 3 trial was initiated.