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NCT03664024: KEYNOTE-782

Biomarkers of Response to Pembrolizumab Combined With Chemotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (KEYNOTE-782, MK-3475-782)

Completed Phase 2 Results posted Last updated 22 August 2024
What this trial tests

Phase 2 trial testing Pembrolizumab in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in 118 participants. Completed in 5 November 2021.

Timeline
30 October 2018
Primary endpoint
5 November 2021
5 November 2021

Quick facts

Lead sponsorMerck Sharp & Dohme LLC
PhasePhase 2
StatusCompleted
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationna
Designsingle group
Maskingnone
Primary purposetreatment
Enrollment118
Start date30 October 2018
Primary completion5 November 2021
Estimated completion5 November 2021
Sites15 locations across Israel, Hungary, Canada, United States, Spain

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC — full company profile →

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Objective Response Rate Primary · Up to ~25 months

Objective response rate is the proportion of participants who have a confirmed complete response (CR) or partial response (PR). Objective response rate is assessed by investigator review according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1. Complete Response (CR): Disappearance of all target lesions. Any pathological lymph nodes (whether target or non-target) must have reduction in short axis to \<10 mm. Partial Response (PR): At least a 30% decrease in the sum of diameters of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline sum diameters. Participants with missing data are c

GroupValue95% CI
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy40.231.2 – 49.6
Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) in Cell-free Circulating Tumor Deoxyribonucleic Acid (ctDNA) Primary · Baseline (Day 1)

Cell-free ctDNA allows the exploration of tumor features from blood samples. TMB is a measure of mutational load in tumor cells and expressed as the number of somatic mutations per megabase (mut/MB) of DNA. The mean TMB in cell-free ctDNA of participants is presented.

GroupValue95% CI
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy Overall9± 11.6
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy Responder8± 8.3
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy Non-responder10± 13.5
Progression Free Survival (PFS) Secondary · Up to ~36 months

PFS is defined as the time from enrollment to the first documented disease progression or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first as assessed by investigator review according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST 1.1). The Kaplan-Meier estimate of median PFS using the product-limit (Kaplan-Meier) method for censored data is presented.

GroupValue95% CI
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy7.25.6 – 9.8
Overall Survival (OS) Secondary · Up to ~36 months

OS is defined as the time from the start of treatment to death due to any cause. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of median PFS using the product-limit (Kaplan-Meier) method for censored data is presented.

GroupValue95% CI
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy18.113.5 – 25.6
Percentage of Participants Who Experienced One or More Adverse Events (AEs) Secondary · Up to ~31 months

An AE is any untoward medical occurrence in a clinical study participant, temporally associated with the use of study intervention, whether or not considered related to the study intervention. The percentage of participants who experienced an AE is presented.

GroupValue95% CI
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy100
Percentage of Participants Discontinuing Study Intervention Due to an AE. Secondary · Up to ~28 months

An AE is any untoward medical occurrence in a clinical study participant, temporally associated with the use of study intervention, whether or not considered related to the study intervention. The percentage of participants who discontinued the study intervention due to an AE is presented.

GroupValue95% CI
Pembrolizumab Plus Platinum-doublet Chemotherapy38.5

Adverse events — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Time frame: For All-Cause Mortality: from allocation up to ~36 months. For AEs from start of treatment up to ~31 months.. Reporting threshold: 5%. Adverse-event reports describe events observed during the trial — not all are caused by the drug.

Pembrolizumab + Pemetrexed + Platinum Agent
Serious: 60/117 (51%)
Deaths: 80/118

Serious adverse events (66 terms)

ReactionSystemPembrolizumab + Pemetrexed…
PneumoniaInfections and infestations
Febrile neutropeniaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
DiarrhoeaGastrointestinal disorders
Respiratory tract infectionInfections and infestations
PancytopeniaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
ThrombocytopeniaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders
AnaemiaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
Pericardial effusionCardiac disorders
FatigueGeneral disorders
PyrexiaGeneral disorders
BronchitisInfections and infestations
SepsisInfections and infestations
Upper respiratory tract infectionInfections and infestations
Urinary tract infectionInfections and infestations
Acute kidney injuryRenal and urinary disorders
DyspnoeaRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders
PneumonitisRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders
Pulmonary embolismRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders
NeutropeniaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
Cardiac arrestCardiac disorders
Cardio-respiratory arrestCardiac disorders
Cardiopulmonary failureCardiac disorders
CardiotoxicityCardiac disorders
MyocarditisCardiac disorders
Other adverse events (46 terms — click to expand)

ReactionSystemPembrolizumab + Pemetrexed…
AnaemiaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
NauseaGastrointestinal disorders
AstheniaGeneral disorders
NeutropeniaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
DiarrhoeaGastrointestinal disorders
FatigueGeneral disorders
Decreased appetiteMetabolism and nutrition disorders
VomitingGastrointestinal disorders
ConstipationGastrointestinal disorders
HyperglycaemiaMetabolism and nutrition disorders
Alanine aminotransferase increasedInvestigations
Aspartate aminotransferase increasedInvestigations
ThrombocytopeniaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
Blood creatinine increasedInvestigations
DyspnoeaRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders
Oedema peripheralGeneral disorders
PyrexiaGeneral disorders
ArthralgiaMusculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders
HypothyroidismEndocrine disorders
Lacrimation increasedEye disorders
Weight decreasedInvestigations
LeukopeniaBlood and lymphatic system disorders
Urinary tract infectionInfections and infestations
Back painMusculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders
CoughRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders
Mucosal inflammationGeneral disorders
DizzinessNervous system disorders
Amylase increasedInvestigations
HyponatraemiaMetabolism and nutrition disorders
HeadacheNervous system disorders
Renal impairmentRenal and urinary disorders
Gamma-glutamyltransferase increasedInvestigations
HypokalaemiaMetabolism and nutrition disorders
HyperthyroidismEndocrine disorders
Chest painGeneral disorders
PneumoniaInfections and infestations
Neutrophil count decreasedInvestigations
DysgeusiaNervous system disorders
Neuropathy peripheralNervous system disorders
PneumonitisRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders

Most-reported serious reactions: Pneumonia, Febrile neutropenia, Diarrhoea, Respiratory tract infection, Pancytopenia, Thrombocytopenia, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Anaemia.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03664024 adverse events section.

Sponsor's own description

Participants with Stage IV nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without prior systemic treatment will be treated with standard of care pembrolizumab combined with platinum-doublet chemotherapy for 4 cycles, then pembrolizumab plus pemetrexed maintenance for up to 31 additional cycles. The platinum doublet would be pemetrexed plus the investigator's choice of either cisplatin or carboplatin. The primary objective is to evaluate if total baseline tumor mutation burden (TMB) in cell-free circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid (ctDNA) is predictive of objective response per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) by the investigator by estimating the level of association.

Publications & conference data

4 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

  1. Improvement of the anticancer efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade via combination therapy and PD-L1 regulation.
    Wu M, Huang Q, Xie Y, Wu X, et al · · 2022 · cited 336× · PMID 35279217 · DOI 10.1186/s13045-022-01242-2
  2. Enhancing clinical potential of liquid biopsy through a multi-omic approach: A systematic review.
    Di Sario G, Rossella V, Famulari ES, Maurizio A, et al · · 2023 · cited 42× · PMID 37077538 · DOI 10.3389/fgene.2023.1152470
  3. Advances in platinum-based cancer therapy: overcoming platinum resistance through rational combinatorial strategies.
    Yusoh NA, Ahmad H, Vallis KA, Gill MR. · · 2025 · cited 11× · PMID 40518502 · DOI 10.1007/s12032-025-02812-3
  4. Novel therapeutic strategies for non-small cell lung cancer: Combination therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors (Review).
    Ma S, Hu R, Xue X, Qu M, et al · · 2025 · cited 1× · PMID 40688592 · DOI 10.3892/ol.2025.15170

Verify or expand the search:

Other trials of Pembrolizumab

Trials testing the same drug.

Other recruiting trials for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Currently open trials in the same condition.

Other Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC trials

Trials by the same sponsor.

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Data sources for this page

Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT03664024.

Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing