Among patients with resectable early-stage gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers, the treatment regimen of Imfinzi (durvalumab) plus chemotherapy has reportedly been found to significantly improve event-free survival.
High-level results from the phase 3 MATTERHORN clinical trial were shared in a news release issued by AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Imfinzi.
“Despite receiving curative-intent chemotherapy and surgery, patients with gastric cancer commonly face disease recurrence and have a poor prognosis. These exciting data from MATTERHORN show that an [Imfinzi]-based perioperative regimen resulted in a clinically meaningful improvement in patient outcomes, including decreasing the risk of the cancer coming back,” said Dr. Yelena Y. Janjigian, Chief Attending Physician of the Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and principal investigator in the trial, in the news release.
Results from the MATTERHORN trial demonstrated that perioperative treatment with Imfinzi plus standard-of-care chemotherapy fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and docetaxel (FLOT) resulted in what AstraZeneca described in the news release as “a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the primary endpoint of event-free survival.”
Patients in the study received Imfinzi with chemotherapy before surgery, then received Imfinzi monotherapy after surgery in order to evaluate the regimen versus perioperative chemotherapy among patients with resectable, early-stage and locally advanced stages 2, 3 and 4A gastric and GEJ cancers.
Furthermore, regarding overall survival, the company reported that a strong trend was observed in favor of the Imfinzi regimen.
Imfinzi, according to the National Cancer Institute, is a type of treatment known as a monoclonal antibody that binds to the cell surface antigen B7H1 and may active the immune system to respond against B7H1-expressing tumor cells.
With an enrollment of 957 patients, MATTERHORN is currently active, according to its listing on clinicaltrials.gov. The trial has an estimated primary completion date of Oct. 31, 2025, and a study completion date of Sept. 27, 2027, according to the listing.
“MATTERHORN is the first phase 3 trial of an immunotherapy to show a statistically significant improvement in event-free survival in patients with resectable gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers,” said Cristian Massacesi, Chief Medical Officer and Oncology Chief Development Officer, AstraZeneca, in the news release.”
Concerning safety, the news release stated that the safety profiles of Imfinzi and the FLOT chemotherapy combination were consistent with their known profiles, with no new safety findings.
AstraZeneca stated that data from the MATTERHORN trial will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and shared with global regulatory authorities.
Prior findings from the MATTERHORN trial presented at the 2023 ESMO Congress showed that patients in the Imfinzi arm experienced a pathologic complete response rate of 19% versus 7% among patients in the trial’s placebo arm.
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