Trial reportJournal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer2018
Phase II Study of Maintenance Pembrolizumab in Patients with Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC).
Trial report in Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 116 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
116 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Parotid metastases from primary lung cancer: Case series and systematic review of the features.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The benefits and risks of pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy as first-line therapy in small-cell lung cancer: a single-arm meta-analysis of noncomparative clinical studies and randomized control trials.World journal of surgical oncology · 2021Pooled it
- Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Associated Hepatotoxicity in Primary Liver Cancer Versus Other Cancers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2021Pooled it
- Tumour PD-L1 Expression in Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cells · 2020Pooled it
- Comparison of First-Line Treatments for Patients With Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.JAMA network open · 2020Pooled it
- Treatment-Related Adverse Events of PD-1 and PD-L1 Inhibitors in Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA oncology · 2019Pooled it
- Durvalumab plus anlotinib versus durvalumab alone as maintenance treatment in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (DURABLE): a multicenter, randomized, phase II trial and biomarker analysis.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Randomized phase 2 study comparing irinotecan versus amrubicin as maintenance therapy after first-line induction therapy for extensive disease small cell lung cancer (HOT1401/NJLCG1401).Thoracic cancer · 2021Trial
- Nivolumab and Ipilimumab as Maintenance Therapy in Extensive-Disease Small-Cell Lung Cancer: CheckMate 451.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2021Trial
- Updated Overall Survival and PD-L1 Subgroup Analysis of Patients With Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Atezolizumab, Carboplatin, and Etoposide (IMpower133).Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2021Trial
- Prospective Single-Arm Phase 1 and 2 Study: Ipilimumab and Nivolumab With Thoracic Radiation Therapy After Platinum Chemotherapy in Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2021Trial
- A Single-Arm Multi-Center Phase II Clinical Trial of Cadonilimab (anti-PD-1/CTLA-4) in Combination with or without Conventional Second-Line Treatment for Patients with Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer.Technology in cancer research & treatmentTrial
- S-1 Maintenance Therapy in Extensive Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer-A Randomized Clinical Study.Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer CenterTrial
- Application and mechanistic research of novel therapeutic strategies in cisplatin-resistant small cell lung cancer.Annals of medicine · 2026Review
- Long-term survival and biomarkers of immunotherapy in small cell lung cancer: a systematic review.Translational lung cancer research · 2026Review
- The Five-Decade Journey of Small Cell Lung Cancer.Cancer communications (London, England) · 2026Review
- The LDH-H3K18La-Nur77 Axis Potentiates Immune Escape in Small Cell Lung Cancer.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Approaches: From Clinical Testing to Future Advances.Advanced pharmaceutical bulletin · 2025Review
- Baseline levels and dynamic changes of cfDNA, tumor fraction and mutations to anticipate the clinical course of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients treated with first-line atezolizumab and chemotherapy: an hypothesis generating study (CATS/ML43257).Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Article
56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of maintenance pembrolizumab in patients with extensive-stage SCLC after treatment with platinum and etoposide.
methodsPatients with extensive-stage SCLC with a response or stable disease after induction chemotherapy were eligible. Pembrolizumab at a dose of 200 mg administered intravenously every 3 weeks was initiated within 8 weeks of the last cycle of chemotherapy. The primary end point of the study was progression-free survival (PFS) from study registration, with overall survival (OS) as a key secondary end point. Available tumor tissue was assessed for expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) both in the tumor cells and in the surrounding stroma. Blood for circulating tumor cells was collected before the first, second, and third cycles of pembrolizumab.
resultsOf the 45 patients enrolled, 56% were male and 22% had treated brain metastases. The median PFS was 1.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3-2.8), with a 1-year PFS of 13%. The median OS was 9.6 months (95% CI: 7.0-12), with a 1-year OS of 37%. Of the 30 tumors that could be assessed, three had PD-L1 expression (≥1%) in the tumor cells. A total of 20 tumors could be assessed for PD-L1 expression in the stroma. The median PFS in the eight patients with tumors positive for expression of PD-L1 at the stromal interface was 6.5 months (95% CI: 1.1-12.8) compared with 1.3 months (95% CI: 0.6-2.5) in 12 patients with tumors negative for this marker. No unexpected toxicities were observed.
conclusionMaintenance pembrolizumab did not appear to improve median PFS compared with the historical data. However, the 1-year PFS rate of 13% and OS rate of 37% suggest that a subset of patients did benefit from pembrolizumab.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.