Latest Outcomes from the PACIFIC Trial Suggest Overall Survival Improvement for Lung Cancer

Takeaways from the Most Recent Update

• The PACIFIC trial is now one of the most important clinical studies in lung cancer medicine
• The recent four-year data show an overall survival improvement of 10-12% using durvalumab (brand name: Imfinzi) over placebo
• Oncologists are eagerly awaiting the five-year “magic mark” outcome data

“The most updated outcome of the PACIFIC trial, released a couple of months ago, shows the four-year overall survival data,” says Dr. Balazs Halmos, medical oncologist and director of the Thoracic Oncology Program at Montefiore Medical Center. That, he says, is continuing to look very impressive with each year’s update.

The large, randomized phase 3 study of the checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab (brand name: Imfinzi) versus placebo after chemoradiation in patients with stage III unresectable NSCLC demonstrated a dramatic overall survival and PFS benefit, with an estimated 50 percent of patients surviving four years. In the recent four-year update, “we’ve seen maintenance of the significant difference in survival between the placebo versus the durvalumab arms matching about 10 to 12 percent or so overall survival improvement at four years.”

Dr. Halmos is quick to add that he’s not suggesting there’s a significant cure rate as a result of intervention revise with durvalumab. “And of course, we’re looking forward to further updates such as the five-year-outcomes. Five years is the magic mark in cancer medicine in a way. So that will be important to see.”

But the message from the PACIFIC trial already, Dr. Halmos tells SurvivorNet Connect, “is that this intervention, this treatment, is making a major impact to the point that I think it’s one of the most positive, one of the most important clinical studies that we’ve witnessed in lung cancer medicine for the last number of years.”