Pembrolizumab plus enzalutamide for enzalutamide-resistant metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC): Updated analyses after one additional year of follow-up from cohorts 4 and 5 of the KEYNOTE-199 study

Abstract

Background: KEYNOTE-199 (NCT02787005) is a multicohort phase 2 study to evaluate pembrolizumab (pembro) in mCRPC. A previous analysis of patients with RECIST-measurable (cohort 4 [C4]) or bone-predominant nonmeasurable (cohort 5 [C5]) disease who were chemotherapy-naive and had progression while on enzalutamide (enza) found that pembro + enza showed antitumor activity and manageable safety. Long-term outcomes are of interest with immunotherapy; hence, updated efficacy and safety data after an additional 1 year of follow-up are presented. Methods: Pts were eligible if they had resistance to enza after prior response. Prior treatment with abiraterone was allowed. Pts received pembro 200 mg Q3W for up to 35 cycles + enza QD until progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal. Primary end point was ORR per RECIST v1.1 by blinded independent central review (BICR) in C4. Secondary end points were DOR (C4), and DCR, rPFS, OS and safety (both cohorts). Results: 126 pts (C4, 81; C5, 45) were treated. Median age was 72 years (range 43-92), 32.5% had visceral disease and 87.3% previously received ≥6 mo of enzalutamide; 121 pts (96.0%) discontinued, most because of progressive disease. Median (range) time from enrollment to data cutoff was 31.7 mo (23.1-37.1) in C4 and 35.5 mo (22.9-37.3) in C5. In C4, confirmed ORR was 12.3% (95% CI 6.1-21.5) (2 CRs, 8 PRs); median (range) DOR was 8.1 mo (2.5+ to 15.2), and 62.5% had a response ≥6 mo (Kaplan-Meier estimate). Additional efficacy analyses are outlined in the table. A total of 27.2% and 28.9% of pts in C4 and C5, respectively, experienced grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events. Two pts in C4 died of immune-related AEs (Miller Fisher syndrome and myasthenia gravis). Incidence of any-grade (34.1%) and grade 3 or 4 (5.6%) rash, regardless of relatedness to treatment, was higher than previously reported for individual agents but manageable with standard-of-care treatments; 2 pts discontinued because of rash. Conclusions: After an additional 1 year of follow-up, pembro + enza continued to show antitumor activity and a manageable safety profile in pts with mCRPC who became resistant to enza. The treatment combination is being further evaluated in the ongoing phase 3 KEYNOTE-641 trial (NCT03834493).