University of Maryland, Baltimore
This research study is being done to find out if a drug called cemiplimab is safe in adult patients who have non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that can be surgically removed (resectable Stage II, IIIA, or select IIIB NSCLC). The purpose of this study is also to look at how well the study drug works and whether certain patients can skip chemotherapy before their surgery. The goal is to see if they can safely avoid the harsh side effects of chemo and still have a successful outcome. The investigators are doing this study because the investigators want to find out if this treatment approach is better or worse than the usual approach for early-stage NSCLC that can be surgically removed. The usual approach for the participants type of cancer is treatment with a combination of platinum-doublet chemotherapy and an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) such as cemiplimab (LIBTAYO®) given before the tumor is surgically removed. (Immune checkpoint is a normal part of the immune system used to prevent an immune response from becoming so strong that it inadvertently destroys healthy cells in the body). Cemiplimab is given via infusion and will be administered at the study center. Everyone on the study will get the active study drug, cemiplimab. No one will get placebo. Placebos look like the study drug but don't have medicine in them. Infusion of cemiplimab will be given for 2 cycles followed by an evaluation. An evaluation means that participants will have imaging studies ("scans") done to see if the tumor has changed. After the scans, participants may receive one final cycle of cemiplimab followed by resection (surgery to remove the tumor) or combination chemotherapy plus cemiplimab for 2 cycles followed by resection.
Current standard of care for patients with EGFR/ALK wild-type, resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a combination of platinum-doublet chemotherapy plus anti-PD (L)1 therapy given pre-operatively prior to definitive resection. This is based on repeated positive phase III trials showing improvement in pathologic response, event-free survival and overall survival compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. However, this one-size-fits all approach does not take into account the role of prognostic and predictive biomarkers to help further personalize and refine neoadjuvant systemic ther…
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 18 years or older at time of study entry 2. Eastern cooperative oncology group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 3. Participants with histologically confirmed stage II-IIIB(N2) NSCLC (per the 9th International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer) with disease that is considered resectable prior to initiation of systemic therapy. 4. Subject cases must be reviewed in a multidisciplinary thoracic tumor board setting prior to enrollment to allow for adequate discussion regarding the appropriateness for resection. 5. Participants must have a tumor tissue sample av…
Cemiplimab 350 mg IV administered every 3 weeks