Key clinical point: Tumor mutational burden (TMB) status is associated with the clinical outcomes of the first-line pembrolizumab-based therapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer.
Major finding: TMB was significantly associated with the objective response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival in the pembrolizumab monotherapy and pembrolizumab-chemotherapy treatment groups (1-sided P < .05) but not in the chemotherapy group (2-sided P > .05).
Study details: This prespecified exploratory analysis included 306 patients with advanced gastric cancer and evaluable TMB data who received pembrolizumab alone, pembrolizumab+chemotherapy, or chemotherapy alone in the phase 3 KEYNOTE-062 trial (n = 763).
Disclosures: This study was sponsored by Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., NJ Some authors reported receiving grants or personal fees from various sources, including MSD and Merck. Two authors declared being employees of MSD or Merck.
Source: Lee KW et al. Association of tumor mutational burden with efficacy of pembrolizumab±chemotherapy as first-line therapy for gastric cancer in the phase III KEYNOTE-062 study. Clin Cancer Res. 2022;28(16):3489-3498 (Aug 15). Doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-0121