Ivonescimab plus chemotherapy: overall survival advantage in advanced NSCLC

This review discusses recent clinical trial results in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without oncogenic drivers. It focuses on pembrolizumab-containing combinations and bispecific antibodies that may influence first-line treatment standards.

Key findings

• In a Chinese population, sacituzumab tirumotecan combined with pembrolizumab improved progression-free survival compared with pembrolizumab monotherapy.
• Ivonescimab combined with platinum-based chemotherapy outperformed pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in overall survival.
• Other bispecific antibodies targeting PD-(L)1 and VEGF also showed promising results.

Safety and limits of interpretation

The trials assessed efficacy and safety; reported adverse events included hematological toxicities and hypertension. The available abstract does not provide their frequency, severity, or distribution across treatment regimens, nor does it provide quantitative estimates of the survival benefits.

Ongoing phase III trials aim to confirm these findings in broader populations. The abstract outlines potential changes to first-line standards but does not report an established change in recommendations.