The Impact of Pembrolizumab as a Salvage Therapy Based on HER2 Expression in Advanced Gastric Cancer.

Cancers (Basel)

Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea.

Published: August 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors, particularly pembrolizumab, are being studied as treatment options for advanced gastric cancer (AGC), focusing on their efficacy based on HER2 expression.
  • In a study of 113 AGC patients, 10.6% were HER2-positive, showing significantly better treatment responses, with 50% achieving a partial response compared to just 4.9% of HER2-negative patients.
  • HER2-positive patients also had longer median progression-free survival (5.53 months) compared to HER2-negative patients (1.81 months), indicating that pembrolizumab is more effective for those with HER2-positive tumors.

Article Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are used as salvage treatments for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) regardless of HER2 status. This study assessed the efficacy of ICIs based on HER2 expression in AGC patients who received pembrolizumab as salvage monotherapy at Samsung Medical Center from November 2017 to March 2023. HER2 status was determined via immunohistochemistry, and tumor response and survival outcomes were compared accordingly. Among the 113 patients analyzed, with a median age of 61 years and 64.6% being male, 12 patients (10.6%) were HER2-positive, and 101 patients (89.4%) were HER2-negative. Of 92 evaluable patients, none had a complete response. However, 50% of HER2-positive patients had a partial response, compared to 4.9% of HER2-negative patients ( < 0.001). The disease control rate was 70% in HER2-positive and 37.8% in HER2-negative patients ( = 0.086). Median progression-free survival was 5.53 months for HER2-positive patients versus 1.81 months for HER2-negative patients ( = 0.037). Pembrolizumab as a salvage chemotherapy for the treatment of AGC demonstrated superior effectiveness in HER2-positive patients compared with HER2-negative patients.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11393848PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers16172969DOI Listing

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